Perfect Failure
by Deathisamongus
Summary: This is the story of a girl who made a difference in everyones lives, especialy in the life of Severus Snape
1. To Hogwarts

**I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it, as I'm sure you all know.**

**Edited: Feb 4th**

In the heart of Great Britain there is a small town; in the center of that small town there is a long cobblestone road. The road is old, and missing many of its stones, making it hazardous to walk on in the dark. But the houses that line either said are beautifully built, and lovingly cared for by its inhabitants.

At the end of the row there is a different kind of house. It is no less loved and no less cared for; the lawn is always tidy, the windows always spotless, and holiday decorations seem to come and go as if by magic in the night. But, no matter how alike to the others it may look, there is inherently something different about the house.

This may have been directly linked to the fact that often several cloaked figures would walk into the house and never seem to come out of it again. The only figures that seemed to come and go on a regular basis belonged to a young girl and a rather decrepit looking woman in long shawls, about the same height as the girl she was escorting. But, as the pair never seemed to bother anyone the neighbors were willing to dismiss these oddities and keep the attempts to pry at the minimum necessary level.

"Miss Amanda! We must hurry or we will miss the train!"

The decrepit woman was standing at the bottom of a flight of stairs, wringing her long bony fingers and looking anxiously up the stairs. She was not, in fact, an old woman. The diminutive figure so often mistaken for that of a short old woman was actually that of a house-elf. The aging elf had been given the task of looking after the little girl, Amanda, and today they were running late.

Before the words had scarcely faded from the air the young girl was thundering down the stairs, her long black hair bouncing in its braid and her trunk rumbling down behind her. She came to a screeching halt at the bottom and narrowly avoided crashing into the elderly elf that had taken care of her for so long.

"Sorry," she said, breathless. "I'm ready, let's go."

The girl held out her hand, taking the handle of her trunk in one hand and the elf's in the other. There was a sharp '**crack**' and the two of them vanished.

They reappeared in an alley just across the road from a train station, where the people were so noisy the loud snap that announced their presence went largely unnoticed.

The aged house-elf turned to her young charge.

"Remember Miss Amanda," she said anxiously, "platform 9 ¾. The train leaves at exactly eleven 'o clock. You remember how to get onto the platform, yes?"

"_Yes_," the girl assured, bouncing on her heels and trying to keep the exasperation from her voice.

She had been waiting for this day for years, ever since her mother had first described it to her when she was very young. When her mother had gone back to work, leaving five year old Amanda in the care of the house elf, Matilda, she had dreamed of going to Hogwarts with her mother. She had pressed her mother to tell her everything she could of Hogwarts, blue eyes sparkling with rapture whilst she listened.

Minerva McGonagall had never hesitated to tell her about Hogwarts, and as Deputy Headmistress she knew quite a lot. She was also, unfortunately, very strict about underage magic, so Amanda was more then eager to start school so she could finally learn.

Amanda hugged her friend tightly and said her good byes until the next summer. So having said, she turned and pushed her trunk into the crowd, being jostled along as she went. By following groups of people that looked like her, with large trunks, a few with Hogwarts badges, and several looking out of place and nervous to be around so many muggles, she was able to find platforms 9 and 10 with relative ease.

Amanda positioned herself in front of the pillar that separated the two platforms and took a deep steadying breath, trying not to think about what would happen if the barrier refused to let her through. She took a quick look around and rushed forward, plunging headlong into the solid looking brick pillar.

Platform 9 ¾ was just as chaotic as the station around it, even more so, in fact. Owls hooted in their cages, loose cats yowled and hissed underfoot, and through all the noise, a boy could be heard calling for his toad, Trevor.

The train itself was beautiful, ruby red and smoking silently in the middle of all the chaos. It was on this wondrous piece of muggle engineering that Amanda set her sights, pushing through the crowd of people reuniting with their school friends.

She ignored them, knowing that none of them were looking for her, most of her friends were muggles, and shoved her trunk onto the train, before turning down a corridor to look for an empty compartment.

The first vacant room she found was snatched away by a tall boy and his friends.

"Sorry dear," he said, smiling brightly, "but we've got seniority."

Amanda looked him over; he had a kind face, with a charming smile that suggested he was used to girls fawning over him. She should be nice, but he had stepped on her foot when he had pushed to get in the doorway before her.

"Yes, I know," she said seriously, "I can tell by the wrinkles."

The obnoxious boy gasped and feigned horror, turning on his messy haired friend.

"You said no one could tell!" he cried.

His friend tried to console him and pushed him into the compartment, giving Amanda a sheepish smile as he went. An extremely greasy looking kid followed without giving her a second glance, but the last kid stopped, looking apologetic.

"Sorry about them," he said. "They can be a bit pushy."

Amanda rolled her eyes and relaxed, the older boy looked so worn out and sincerely apologetic that she couldn't be mad at him.

"Don't worry about it. I can find somewhere to sit a lot easier then the four of you could."

He smiled and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Remus, Remus Lupin."

"Amy," she replied, shaking his hand firmly. "Amy McGonagall."

Remus did a double take.

"Did you say McGonagall? As in _Professor_ McGonagall?"

"That would be correct," she confirmed, wondering briefly if she should expect this type of reaction from everyone she met.

"Then I guess we'll be seeing you in Gryffindor."

"I don't think she would forgive me if I became a Slytherin." Amanda said, shrugging. "And as to whether you'll be seeing me, that all depends on how _we_ act." She looked pointedly in on the obnoxious boys and Remus laughed.

"See you around, Amy." She smiled and started down the hall, once again searching for a room.

At the very end of the train Amanda pushed open the last compartment, more then a little relieved to discover that it was empty. Amanda collapsed gratefully inside and proceeded to shove her trunk into the baggage compartment, nearly dropping it on herself twice. She had just settled down comfortably with a book on goblin wars when the door slid open once again and a tall group of Slytherins looked in. They stood in silence for a moment before a definitively feminine voice broke the silence.

"Oh for lambs sake!" It said angrily from somewhere behind the group. "It's only a first year! Besides, everywhere else is full."

The group grudgingly climbed in and stowed their trunks quickly, not having anywhere near the amount of difficulties Amanda had had as they were all quite a bit taller then her.

The female voice from before had dark, curly brown hair that bounced around wildly when she moved. She plopped down next to Amanda and waited for the boys to do the same. Across from the girl sat a boy with long, sleek blonde hair. Next to him and squeezed in the middle sat a stockier boy who looked as though he were very proud of himself for no real reason, and directly across from Amanda and looking slightly older then the others was a tall boy with dark hair that fell to his shoulders in little straggles. He stared blankly at Amanda for a few minutes before being sucked into a conversation with the others.

A little over an hour later the conversation had turned ugly and Amanda was distracted from her book. They had started an argument about the number of gnomes that the goblins had slaughtered in their last war, with the guesses ranging from twenty-five to fifty thousand and were getting so worked up about it that two of them were reaching into their robes for their wands. Amanda hid a small smile, the information they were about to attack each other over was right in front of her, and she had just read it.

She looked up when she felt eyes on her; it was the eldest boy, the one sitting across from her. He smirked and gestured to her book so she mouthed the answer to him. His smirk turned into a victorious smile as he turned back to his friends and their now heated argument.

"It was forty-two thousand," he stated firmly. "I guarantee it."

They looked at him, mouths agape until the blonde boy recovered himself.

"And how," he said, his tone smooth and oily, "may I ask, did you come by this information so suddenly?"

The eldest boy gestured to her once again, causing the group to scowl at them both.

"Taking the word of a first year, Regulus?" asked the middle boy before sneering at her. "And what makes you think you know the answer, little girl?"

"I'm psychic," she said sarcastically, holding her book up and giving him a look that plainly questioned his intelligence. She didn't like stupid people.

The group snickered and the girl next to Amanda reached over, giving her cheeks a little pinch.

"Well, aren't you precious?" she said, smiling brightly. "I'm Bellatrix Black. The fool over there is Rodolphus Lestrange, the blonde is Lucius Malfoy, and tall dark and silent over there is Regulus Black, my cousin. And you are?"

"Amy," she said, rubbing her cheeks. "And please, _never_ do that again."

Bellatrix laughed ad leaned back, just in time for Rodolphus to open his big mouth again.

"Are you a pure blood or what?" he asked.

"Are you stupid or what?" she asked, before rolling her eyes again. "And yeah, I am, not that it's any of your business."

"What's your full name?" Regulus asked, sounding somewhat suspicious.

"Amanda Sileas McGonagall."

The temperature in the compartment seemed to drop several degrees and the group seemed to recoil from her with a sneer.

Rodolphus sneered, "Gryffindor!"

"Retard," she replied.

Lucius snickered and looked her over.

"She doesn't act like a Gryffindor," he said finally.

"Just because my mother's head of Gryffindor doesn't mean _I'll_ be a Gryffindor."

Regulus stared at her for another moment.

"She's right," he said finally. "She's too smart to be a Gryffindor."

Rodolphus looked indignant.

"You've never called me smart."

Lucius rounded on him smoothly, smiling evilly.

"You'd have to be smart for that," he said in the tone one uses when explaining things to a small child. "So you will never hear anyone call you that, ever."

The others nodded solemnly, hiding grins beneath serious faces. Amanda almost felt bad for the kid, and probably would have, had he kept his mouth shut.

"I didn't even know the old woman had a husband."

"She doesn't," Amanda said, reverting once again to sarcasm. "I came out of a test tube."

For a moment he looked like he believed her and Lucius shook his head pityingly.

"Some Slytherin you are," Bellatrix sneered.

"Well, then why don't we ever hear about Mr. McGonagall?" he asked, trying to regain control, the poor deluded child actually looked smug. Amanda glared at him.

"He's dead." An awkward silence followed her words, one that no one seemed willing to break. "So what is the Slytherin head of house like?" she asked, breaking the silence and making Bellatrix scowl.

"He's a cheese," she said. "He picks out his favorites; the ones he thinks will make it far, and does them little favors. Then he introduces them to old friends of his with connections in the wizarding world." Rodolphus scowled too.

"The man doesn't even make distinctions between bloods. He's no better then a mud-blood himself." Amanda narrowed her eyes.

"Maybe he doesn't distinguish bloods because there shouldn't _be_ any distinctions amongst blood." She was stepping in dangerous territory now, and they all turned to her. Amanda leaned forward a bit. "Look, take Rodolphus for example. You all just agreed that he wasn't very smart; I'll bet there are loads of muggle-borns smarter then him."

Lucius smirked.

"That's probably true. But pure-bloods are far superior to mud-bloods in both wealth and magic," he said.

"Money isn't everything," she said.

"The only people who say that are the people who have money."

"You only say that because you never hang out with people who aren't rich." She eyed him seriously. "How many poor friends do you have, Lucius, that you didn't have to pay to spend time with you?"

Regulus started to laugh.

"She's got you there Malfoy."

Even Rodolphus laughed.

"How does it feel to be bested by a first year Lucius?"

Lucius glared daggers at him.

"You tell me, Rodolphus, it's happened to you more then me."

By the time the train pulled into the station in Hogsmeade the group of Slytherins had already decided that she would be a Slytherin with them and taken her in under their wing. They had also, thankfully, given up trying to convince her about pure-blood superiority, positive that they would be able to convince her later.

After they had all clambered off the train the group shoed her off towards Hagrid, an extremely large man with a wild tangle of black hair, who was calling over all the new first years.

"Hello Hagrid," she said brightly, when she was close enough. Hagrid had been a frequent visitor during the days when her mother was working, and they'd gotten quite close over the years. He thumped her on the back, nearly knocking her over.

"'S good to see ye' Amy."

He continued calling out to the first years, who traditionally made the trip to Hogwarts by crossing the lake. Amanda climbed into her boat and was joined by three others; a tall brown haired boy named Amos Diggory; a wiry red head who introduced himself as Charlie Weasley; and a sweet girl blonde haired girl named Amelia Bones.

After introductions were made Amanda leaned over the edge of the boat, hoping to see some of the magical creatures that Hagrid had described to her. Something flickered under the water, causing her to lean over even further to try to get a better look. Amos leaned in close to her.

"Whatcha' looking at?"

He leaned too far and suddenly the boat started to tip too far. Amanda's eyes widened, she couldn't swim! Something suddenly bumped the edge of the boat, hard. It tipped back the other way and Amanda was thrown to the ground. She shot back up immediately to see what had hit them and the boat rocked dangerously.

"Amy, stop rocking the boat! I can't swim and the water's freezing!" Amelia wailed. She looked more than a little freaked out, so Amanda settled down begrudgingly and Amos scooted back over.

"What were you looking at?"

"Don't end a sentence with a preposition," she said automatically, cursing her mothers' fascination with perfection as she did so. "And I thought I saw something in the water."

Charlie laughed.

"Ravenclaw," he labeled.

Amanda rolled her eyes. Would everyone place her into a different house?

_Maybe I should try to be a Hufflepuff, prove them all wrong._

"There's nothing in the lake." Amos said, laughing a bit. She looked at him oddly.

"There are all kinds of wonderful creatures in the lake! There is the giant squid, a whole colony of mermaids, grindylows and countless other aquatic creatures." As if to punctuate her words a giant tentacle shot up out of the water, showering Amos with water. Amelia and Amanda giggled; the look on his face was priceless.

"Alright already, I believe you!" he shouted, making them laugh even harder.

The group laughed all the way up to the castle, but fell silent upon entering the great doors. Amanda saw her mother waiting for them at the top of a staircase, hair pulled into its usual bun and face set in a way that clearly said that nonsense would _not_ be tolerated.

The deputy Headmistress stopped them just in front of the doors and welcomed them with a small, but warm, smile. The Head of Gryffindor explained that in a moment they would all be sorted into one of four houses, and that these houses would become like their family. Excellency would give their house points, and rule breaking would cause points to be subtracted. At the end of the year the house with the most points would win the house cup, not to mention bragging rights until the next year.

Professor McGonagall left them as soon as she had finished her explanation, disappearing back through the large oak doors without giving them a peek as to what was inside. Moments later the doors oipened of their own accord and revealed a hall filled with students, all chatting eagerly and craning their necks to get a peek at the new students. At the far end of the hall Professor McGonagall stood next to an old battered hat, and just behind her stood the Head table, where all the professors sat, waiting.

Amanda took a step forward, pulling her newest friends with her, and started down the hall. The other first years murmured excitedly at the size and grandeur of the room and Amanda leaned over to Amos.

"I suggest you look up," she whispered.

He shot her a confused look before glancing up and gasping. Stars sparkled brightly in the night sky, perfectly portrayed on the ceiling. His gasp of shock drew the attention of the others and soon they were all looking up at the ceiling, transfixed. Amanda couldn't help but giggle a bit; they looked so funny when they all stared straight up with their mouths open.

Suddenly a voice rang out in the hall and the crowd around her gasped again; the hat was _singing_. It wove a story of warning, about how they should all stand together and never forget that they were all human and part of one species. Amanda was confused; Hagrid had said that the hat sang about the founding members of Hogwarts, and the requirements set down for each house, it wasn't supposed to give advice. Surprised murmuring broke out amongst the older students, but if her mother was confused, she didn't let it show as she began reading out names.

Amelia's was the first name called out that Amanda recognized, followed not long after by Amos. They were both sent to Hufflepuff almost as soon as the hat touched their heads, while others had to sit on the stool for much longer while the hat deliberated.

Her Slytherin group had grown and were clearly pointing her out to their friends. Bellatrix and Lucius were both speaking urgently with a tall gangly looking boy, with shoulder length black hair and dark eyes. He looked at her disbelievingly. Amanda raised an eyebrow and Bellatrix mouthed that they'd tell her later. She rolled her eyes at them and turned back to the front just in time to hear her name called.

Murmuring broke out in the hall, 'Did she say McGonagall?' 'I didn't even know she had a daughter.' 'Bet she's a Gryffindor.' Amanda scoffed silently to herself; did these people really have nothing better to talk about then the fact that Professor McGonagall had a daughter?

Headmaster Dumbledore smiled when she stepped up and Amanda had to fight the urge to wave. Over the holidays and throughout the summer Dumbledore had visited nearly as much as her mother had. He'd been kind and encouraging; he was a fatherly kind of person. Hers had died before she was born and he filled the gap perfectly.

When the hat was placed on her head Amanda could hear it in her mind. It wasn't really that it was speaking, the words just kind of appeared in her head, completely bypassing the complicated hearing system the universe had gone through all the trouble of creating.

**Hmm, curious, **her brain registered the words while her ears swore they hadn't heard them.

**A little different then most people here, you already know where you want to be. But tell me, are you sure?**

_Yes._

**It's not really suited to you though. Ravenclaw would take you gladly for your intellect and Slytherin would welcome you like a comrade of old with that sharp tongue.**

_No._

**You really would make an excellent Slytherin. You're sure you don't –**

_Yes!_

**Well then, if you're sure… You are sure?**

_YES! _She thought, as expressively as she could.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Amanda glanced over at her Slytherin friends, they looked shocked, all but the dark eyed boy who just looked smug. She rolled her eyes at them and shrugged, grinning dryly. She could never have been a Slytherin, her mother wouldn't have approved of that at all.

Remus waved her over from his spot at the Gryffindor table, scooting over so that she would have a place to sit. Amanda eyed the spot between him and the obnoxious boy from earlier before squeezing in on Remus's other side. Obnoxious leaned back looking insulted.

"What, you don't love me dear? Have I got fleas?"

Amanda sweetly smiled at him.

"I'm sure you do but that's not it," she said brightly. "I just don't normally sit by crazy people until I know their names."

The boy frowned as the messy haired boy across from him burst out laughing and Remus chuckled quietly. He scowled a bit before moving his arm behind Remus to introduce himself and shake her hand. Amanda really did feel bad when he was knocked out of his seat by the sudden rising and cheering of the Gryffindor table. As bad as she felt for him, she couldn't help but laugh as Remus helped him up. They all sat there silently laughing until the sorting was completed.

He reached his arm around again and she took it this time.

"Sirius Black."

He brushed her hand with his lips and she made a show of wiping her hand on Remus's shirt, smiling a sickly smile the whole time.

"Charmed, I'm sure," she wiped the smirk from her face. "I'm Amy McGonagall. And I really am sorry you fell."

The messy haired kid spoke up.

"So they really did say McGonagall. Wow, I didn't know she had a kid." Amanda rolled her eyes for what had to by the fifth time that evening.

"She doesn't, the aliens created me as a clone using some genetic code they took from her years ago. They gave me back last year."

The greasy kid's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

"Really?"

_I wonder if he'll be the Gryffindor equivalent to Rodolphus._

"No," she said plainly, completely bypassing him and turning to the messy haired child with gravy dripping down his chin. "And you are?"

His reply was completely unintelligible and a red head near him threw him a disgusted look. Amanda nodded sympathetically and turned to Remus.

"Care to translate?"

"If I had a clue I would, but as it is…" He started pointing out people instead. "The inarticulate one there is James Potter, Peter Pettigrew would be the one next to him, and the red head is Lily Evans."

The red head turned to her for a moment and stuck out her hand.

"You're Amanda McGonagall right?"

Amanda grabbed her hand.

"Just Amy, please."

Lily nodded and returned to her previous conversation with the burnet sitting on her other side. Amanda turned to Sirius thoughtfully.

"Sirius, do you have a brother?"

He scowled darkly.

"I prefer not to think about him, he's a year ahead of us _and_ in _Slytherin_."

"Regulus," she murmured. His scowl got even darker.

"So you met him. Tell me, Amy dearest, which of us is the fairer?" Amanda pretended to be deep in thought. Dumbledore was getting up to speak so she whispered him his answer quickly.

"If it weren't for those wrinkles on you're face you'd be _almost_ as cute."

Sirius jumped to his feet in mock anger, shouting: "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" If the hall hadn't just gone silent to listen to their Headmaster no one would have really noticed, as it was…

Amanda put a hand over her mouth, hiding the shocked smile and slight blush that had appeared on her face. The group, Amanda included, tried to pretend they didn't know the shouting boy and were instead trying to listen intently to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling merrily.

"I apologize if my words offended you, Mr. Black. Please sit down."

The hall snickered and rolled with laughter, Sirius couldn't have looked any more embarrassed if he tried. James actually fell off his stool, laughing and holding his sides. Peter looked like he was going to piss himself and Lily flashed a quick thumbs up. Over at the Slytherin table, her group was applauding and Bellatrix was blowing her kisses. The dark eyed kid looked like Christmas had come early.

Amanda felt her cheeks go red, or at least redder then they had when Sirius had started shouting. She glanced wearily up at the Head table; relieve to see that her mothers' eyes were also dancing with barely contained mirth.

When the laughter had finally died down enough Dumbledore said a few start of the year words and then waved his hand, signaling the start of the feast. James immediately started laughing again and Sirius sulked for a bit before tossing a spoonful of potatoes into the face of the laughing boy as payback.

The feast was amazing; Amanda had never seen so much delicious food before. Pleasant conversation took up around the table as they ate, nothing serious, broomstick models and new teachers, small talk, of sorts. Afterwards a Gryffindor prefect showed Amanda and her fellow first years to the Gryffindor common room and told them the password, _'Quid Aegis.'_

Inside the newest Gryffindors were welcomed to a room decorated in rich warm reds and gold's, with two staircases leading upwards to the boys and girls dormitories, respectively. The older the older girls showed Amanda and the others where their rooms were and then left them to stumble into bed. It would have been nice to get to know her two other roommates a little, but the feast had left them all stuffed and sleepy. So they made do with meager introductions and then crawled into bed. It had been a long day.

**Feel free to review with suggestions about this or any other chapter, as I mentioned before I am trying to go through and edit them all to make the story better/more believable.**

**Also:**

**A few things have been pointed out to me.**

**Charlie would be like 12 or 13 years younger than Snape so they couldn't have gone to school together.**

**I'm sorry but I really can't fix that, as it is the basis for my story. I didn't realize it when I started writing this and it is far too late to fix it now.**

**Bill can't be two years older and a prefect.**

**This I think I can fix, I'm not sure where I say that he is two years older but I 'm pretty sure I have him leaving at the right time, so when I find it I'll change it/**

**Malfoy should be a prerfect in Severus's first year and so cannot be in school after their third year**

**This will be a little harder to fix, as Malfoy kind of needs to be there, but I will try., I will most likely complete the story and then go back to fix it.**

**Bellatrix**

**Is not specifically mentioned exactly where she is supposed to be, so I am putting her where she is. She doesn't have a big part so it shouldn't mess with anyone too much I hope.**

**Care of Magical Creatures**

**Someone pointed out that this was an optional course for third years and higher, and I'm, assuming they mean that it then wouldn't be on Amanda's schedule in her first year. The class was required up until the third year, ****where it became optional. Because I recall none of the trio opted to take it and had a minor falling out with Hagrid over it.**

**Grammar**

**I'm human, I make mistakes. Point them out and I will fix them as I go along. **


	2. Day 1

Amanda slept fitfully and woke early the next morning, long before the other girls. She was grateful for the chance to have the shower to herself and stole quietly over to the bathroom to take care of her morning routine. After she was all done the other girls were still blissfully unaware of the world outside their heads so Amanda decided to go down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast.

The castle had been described to her before by so many people that Amanda already knew her way around, but the portraits moved around and changed so often that no description had been enough. She stared at their sleeping forms instead of watching where she was going and so didn't even notice the tall Slytherin striding up behind her.

"It's too early for students to be wandering around unsupervised," said an authoritive voice. She turned around, startled.

"Sorry I – Regulus?" she said, surprised. "Couldn't I tell you the same thing?" "You could," he said, smirking a bit. "But it would be a waste, I'm a prefect."

She smiled sweetly and tried to look small and cute.

"Well, you see, I won't be unsupervised until you walk away, so if you'll just continue down this hall we can both get to where we need to be and no one has to get in trouble."

He rolled his eyes.

"Come on." Regulus started walking.

"Thanks Regulus." she said sweetly, causing the prefect to grunt.

"Don't get used to it," he warned. "You have to stay in you're common room next time." They walked in silence for a moment. "Just out of curiosity, what did you do to get that buffoon so worked up?"

Amanda chuckled evilly, realizing he was referring to his brothers antics from the feast.

"I told him he wasn't as cute as his brother because he had too many wrinkles on his face." Regulus stopped and looked at her. "Now don't let that go to you're head, I never said you were cute, just that he's ugly." He chuckled slightly and resumed walking.

"Good because I don't date scrawny first year Gryffindors."

"I resent that."

"Regretting you're house placement already, that's got to be some kind of record."

She stuck out her tongue and said quietly, "I have my own reasons for being in Gryffindor." Regulus raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything, so Amanda took the opportunity to satisfy her own curiosity.

"Would I be correct in assuming you and your brother are complete and utter opposites?" Regulus looked angry.

"He's a complete and utter traitor to the family!"

"All Slytherin?"

"Yes! All perfectly pureblood and faithful to the Dark –" He stopped and looked shocked that he'd said that. Amanda cocked her head a bit and put a hand to her ear.

"I'm sorry; I missed that whole last sentence. Care to try again?" He looked relieved.

"All Slytherin. And all pure-blood lovers."

"Ha! So you admit it, you love me." They laughed.

"About as far as I could throw you." He looked her over. "On second thought, that could actually be quite far." Amanda glared.

"I'm not short! You're just tall!"

"Whatever you say… midget." She rolled her eyes and he reached over and ruffled her hair.

"We're here midget, go on in you should be safe." Before either of them had the chance to open the door it was opened from within and a silver bearded head popped out.

"Good morning, Regulus." Regulus inclined his head.

"Good morning, Headmaster," he said politely. Dumbledore spotted Amanda.

"If you don't mind dear boy, I'm going to snatch away you're company." Regulus inclined his head once more and turned to Amanda.

"See you around, Amy." He turned and left.

"Thanks again," she called; Regulus lifted a hand in acknowledgment. Dumbledore opened the door wider to let her inside.

"You know, students won't begin arriving for breakfast for another hour or so," he said. Amanda sighed.

"That is potentially problematic, as my company has just walked away."

Dumbledore laughed.

"My company isn't awake yet, that, or their minds are still in bed."

"You know what you could do to fix that?"

"What?"

"Come sit with me!" She put on her best puppy-dog face, the one with the big watery eyes and the potential smile hidden behind a small sad frown. Dumbledore just chuckled.

"I have a better idea. Since my knees don't bend quite like they used to, why don't you sit up there with me?"

"You're right," Amanda conceded, "that is a much better idea." There were only three other teachers awake, including Amanda's mother and Herbert Beery, the Herbology teacher and head of Hufflepuff. He was a small wiry man with tufts of hair poking out randomly.

"Always a pleasure to meet the fresh meat." He chuckled a bit and idly swirled his coffee. Dumbledore pushed her over to the next person, a nurse.

"Madam Pomfrey at your service."

"Amy McGonagall. Nice to meet you." They shook hands, and the kind nurse smiled.

"It's good to finally meet you. I've heard so much." Amanda chuckled a bit.

"I'm sure I'm not half as bad as they make it seem." Madam Pomfrey laughed and waved them off. Dumbledore had her take the seat on his right, as Professor McGonagall was on his left.

"Good morning mother."

The deputy Headmistress set down her coffee.

"Good morning. I trust you know this can't be a regular assurance?"

"Of course not, but how else would I have gotten to say good morning?"

"What are you going to do for every other day?" Amanda smiled evilly.

"I'll just stand up and shout it to the world."

"Or maybe you can get Mr. Black to do it for you." McGonagall said slyly.

Amanda's face turned red as her mother and Dumbledore laughed. They ate breakfast and talked until students started arriving. She had to leave the table at that point, but Amanda didn't mind much, she'd seen Amos so at least she had someone to talk to. He was pouring milk in his cereal so she snuck up behind him.

"Good morning Amos."

"Gah!!" He jumped, spraying milk all over the table. Amanda laughed and helped him clean it up with some napkins before sitting down.

"What are you doing over here? This is the Hufflepuff table." She mock glared.

"If you didn't want to talk to me you could have just said so," she said, starting to stand up. Amos freaked a little.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I was just a little surprised is all."

"Obviously. Besides I don't think anyone is going to care where I sit this early in the morning." He looked around, the hall was virtually empty.

"True."

The hall filled up while they laughed and talked. None of the Hufflepuffs had a problem with a Gryffindor in their midst and Amanda was introduced to a bunch of new people. Annie Gats, Brad Smith, and Fred Madly were already friends with Amelia and Amos, so they took to her a little more then the other Hufflepuffs. Amanda had to leave after awhile because they were passing out schedules, so she hurried over to the Gryffindor table and squeezed in between Remus and James.

"Sorry Remus, James. Good morning boys." Sirius ignored her but Remus seemed cheerful enough to see her.

"Hey, what's you're schedule look like?"

James snatched it from her and held it out where they could all see. She had Double Potions with the Ravenclaws, and then she alternated Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs. Transfiguration with Slytherin was next, and after that she was free to have lunch before she had to go to Defense against the Dark Arts with Slytherin. Charms was her last class of the day, except on Wednesdays when she also had a midnight astronomy class with all the first years. On Tuesdays and Thursdays she had History of Magic after the first hour of potions. James and Sirius launched into a discussion over her classes.

"Ravenclaws are good."

"Yeah you can usually copy what they're doing if you get lost," Sirius said.

"And since you have History of Magic early on in the day you can get a lot of last minute homework done." James supplied.

"Old Binns is a ghost so he doesn't notice much."

"Herbology is fun," James said. Sirius looked at her sternly.

"The teacher is a bit off his rocker though so don't encourage him by laughing at his jokes." The group solemnly nodded their heads in agreement before James plowed on.

"You should be alright in Transfiguration. Sucks to have it with Slytherin though."

"Yeah, maybe you can get her to lighten up a bit." Amanda snorted.

_Don't count on it._

"Slughorn is alright if you're one of his 'picks.'"

"That way if you do something wrong he won't mark it, he'll just say 'the best of us make mistakes.'" Sirius explained.

"Charms is great for talking, just don't get Flitwick over excited."

"Yeah, he falls off his stool when that happens." The group snickered a bit.

"Astronomy is just plain boring."

"Skip."

"Sirius! Don't encourage first years to be like you!" Remus said exasperated. Sirius just laughed.

"It's not like anyone could be like me if they tried, I'm just too good." He flexed proudly for am moment before Amanda crushed his pride again.

"Yeah, and no one else has the guts to stand up in front of the whole school and shout like you." The group erupted into laughter again. Poor Peter looked like he was going to wet himself.

Remus offered to show Amanda to the dungeons but she declined, saying she already knew the way down. Unfortunately she was still almost late because she had made the mistake of leaving her books upstairs in her dorm, all the way up in the tower. Amanda slid into class and literally dived behind a table before crawling her way up to the last open desk. She popped into her chair just as the bell rang and Professor Slughorn started taking roll, nearly giving the poor Ravenclaw next to her a heart attack.

_If this doesn't work out I am so going to be a ninja, _she thought with a smile.

When the potions teacher got to her name he gave a little squeal of delight and rushed over.

"Am I correct in assuming you're the daughter of Professor McGonagall? _Our_ McGonagall?" At this point if Amanda had said anything other then yes she was afraid the man would collapse from disappointment and heart failure, he looked as if he might have the later anyways.

"That's mom," she said, smiling nervously. He squealed again and took her hand, shaking it mercilessly.

"I'm sure you've already been told everything we're going to learn today but what do you say you stick it out? I'm sure it won't be too boring for you dear."

He walked away and Amanda decided she didn't like this man, Professor Slughorn seemed like the kind of person that would immediately run behind his wall of connections if anything remotely dangerous were to happen, and the most annoying thing about him was that his tongue was quick enough that most people probably just let him.

Slughorn then had them read over a few pages in a textbook and then pair up to work on a potion it described. The boy next to her turned out to be Steven Quirke, a muggle-born Ravenclaw who was still getting used to magic.

"Is it true that you know all of the stuff we're going to learn already?" he asked.

"Of course not. What would be the fun in knowing everything already? Besides, my mom was very strict about underage magic." He sighed in relief.

"Good, I was really starting to worry that I'd be the only one that didn't know what was going on." They read through the instructions and Amanda volunteered to get the ingredients since she already knew what they looked like and wouldn't have to go through all the labels. On her way back a Gryffindor stopped her.

"Nice moves sneaking in. Glad we both made Gryffindor." It was Charlie.

"Yeah, I forgot my books," she said, smiling sheepishly. "Good to see you too. I'd better get back to my partner, see you around." Charlie waved her off and went back to work with his partner while Amanda returned to her own lost looking partner.

"You're a Gryffindor."

"Really? I thought the red put me in Slytherin. No wonder people in the common room were looking at me funny." She gave him the 'duh' look. "What's you're point?"

"This is the Ravenclaw side of the class."

"Two things then. One, the sides are not labeled; people just usually stick to their house because they generally know them better. Two, it really doesn't matter. I have to spend lots of time with them during dinner and in the common room so why shouldn't I hang out with other people when I have the chance?" He thought about it for a moment and shrugged, moving on.

"Alright, so what are these?" he asked pointing to the ingredients.

Amanda spent the rest of the class explaining ingredients and their properties to Steven. They also got into a long discussion about the rules of Quidditch before Stevens cloak sleeve caught fire. Their potion didn't turn out the best, it probably had something to do with the pieces of sleeve that ended up in it, but it wasn't the worst either, so they were happy. After that the class just read in the book about the ingredients that Amanda had just explained to her new friend.

Herbology was pretty boring; they didn't start on anything, Professor Beery just explained the basics of planting and feeding certain plants before showing them some of the stuff they would be working on throughout the year. He also made lame jokes just as James had predicted. At some point he tripped so he asked Amanda to help him clean up which in turn almost made her late for Transfiguration.

Amanda slid into the only open seat mere seconds before the bell rang, earning a disapproving glare from her mother and a few snickers from other students. Professor McGonagall began to take roll and Amanda looked to see who she was sitting between. She was squeezed between two, very large Slytherin boys, each of whom looked as if they could and would eat her if she got on their bad sides, unfortunately, it seemed she already had; they leaned over her and glared when her name was read off on the roll. From in front of her, Charlie looked back sympathetically.

Professor McGonagall finished her start of year speech, which few people were actually listening to, as it was their fourth or fifth one that day, and was just about to give them their instructions when a knock at the door interrupted her. She opened the door to reveal a very bored looking Regulus on the other side.

"Professor, the Headmaster says he needs to speak with you immediately. He's in his office."

The Transfiguration teacher left Regulus in charge and said she'd be back soon. She fixed them all with a steely glare before she left. Goyle and Crab chuckled evilly as the class started to chatter and Crab leaned in close.

"I'll bet you think you're better then us just because you're a teachers kid," he sneered as Amanda moved her face away in disgust.

"No. I know I'm better then you by the way you're breath smells, Professor McGonagall has nothing to do with it." She could see the wheels turning in his head. He grabbed her arm.

"Did you just insult us?"

"No. I'd never insult the people on both sides of me, which would be a very foolish thing to do. I only insulted you."

Crabs face twisted in anger and he threw a punch at her. Luckily Amanda had been prepared for this and ducked, causing him to hit Goyle instead. Goyle, being too thick to understand that this was an accident, threw himself at Crab, sending them both to the floor behind her in a twisting heap of limbs. Amanda looked at her transfiguration book innocently. Regulus was there in a second, pulling out his wand and separating the two before pointing at Amanda.

"What did you do?" She pulled an affronted face.

"Me?"

"I know you had something to do with it, Amy." She glared at Crab and Goyle before responding.

"But you can't prove I did anything," she said. "Besides, _I_ didn't hit anyone, I simply moved out of the way."

Regulus snorted and moved Crab and Goyle out into the hall, standing in the doorway where he could keep an eye on things. Charlie, who'd been in the seat in front of them and heard the whole thing, leaned back.

"You know, I don't think that was you're fault, although you probably shouldn't have provoked the guy."

"Yeah, but hopefully they'll leave me alone now, maybe not. It was kind of fun either way." She smiled happily, before remembering her mother. "Oh I hope Regulus doesn't mention me." Charlie looked confused.

"I bet he will, you _were_ part of it," he said. She groaned at his words, he was right.

"Mother dearest will _not_ be pleased."

Charlie looked sympathetic again. He looked like he was going to say something but Professor McGonagall was back. The whole time Regulus was explaining to the Professor Amanda couldn't keep herself from watching, waiting for their eyes to turn on her in accusation. When his eyes didn't once glance her way she started to feel relieved. Regulus left and Professor McGonagall took points from both boys and left them in the hall for the remainder of class. Charlie came and sat next to Amanda and class resumed as if nothing had happened.

Professor McGonagall passed out safety-pins and showed them how to transfigure them into needles. They spent the rest of the hour trying to mimic her while she wandered around, gauging their levels.

Charlie managed to get rid of the clasp but soon got frustrated and tried to straighten the pin with his hand until it broke.

"In the future Mr. Weasley, try to stick to you're wand. Good job on getting rid of the clasp though, it's difficult for some people."

McGonagall walked off then while Amanda starred after her in shock.

"What?" he asked, seeing her astounded expression.

"She never compliments people, ever."

She sounded completely astounded. Charlie looked even more confused.

"Bill said she compliments all the time."

Amanda was so shocked she didn't even ask who Bill was. Growing up her mom hadn't praised her once, only told her how to fix what she was doing wrong. She'd never wondered about it before, she just figured that was the way her mom was. And Dumbledore and Matilda had always complimented her if she worked hard at something. Charlie tried to pull her out of her daze.

"What I don't get is why she didn't tell you good job. Yours is almost completely straight and you didn't even cheat."

He was right, hers was almost perfect, the only bit that showed it hadn't originally been a needle was a slight bend in the middle. She shrugged.

"Maybe she figures I _should_ be good at it, because I'm her daughter." They went back to working on their needles until the bell rang.

Amanda told Charlie she wasn't hungry and went outside to the grounds. She climbed a tree near the lake and settled down to think.

Charlie hadn't been the only one her mom had praised, and some of them hadn't even gotten anything done. When she'd told Charlie that perhaps her mother expected excellence just because she was her daughter Amanda hadn't really believed it, but now she was dearly hoping that was what the problem was.

The confused child was about to climb down the tree when she saw some people sneaking up on a kid sitting below her tree. Engrossed in her thoughts, Amanda hadn't even noticed the boy sit down, and he probably hadn't seen her either. With a jolt, she realized that she knew all of the people present. The boy below was the dark eyed Slytherin that had looked smug when she'd been put into Gryffindor, and sneaking up on him were James, Sirius, Peter and Remus. When they got close enough to him Sirius and James pulled out their wands and called to the boy.

"'Oi, Snivillus!"

_Snivillus?_ The boy whipped out his wand, but he wasn't fast enough. James's had already been out.

"Expelliarmus!"

The boy's wand flew out of his hand to be caught by Sirius. The poor Slytherin boy looked trapped. James flicked his wand and the boy was in the air, held up at the ankle by an invisible string. Peter looked ready to piss himself, again, and Remus just looked a little embarrassed. Amanda's eyes flashed, she practiced James wand movements in her head before testing the spell out.

"Expelliarmus!"

Five wands flew from the group into Amanda's waiting arms. The boy fell to the ground with a thud and then all eyes were on her. She sneered down at them all, especially Sirius.

"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave." Peter bounced up and down angrily.

"You're one to talk, hiding up in you're tree! And give us back our wands." Amanda rolled her eyes.

"No," she said. "I'm sure you feel really brave since it's four to one and you didn't even give him a chance to get his wand! And there's a difference between bravery and foolishness. I'm not going to hop down between four fourth years and ask them nicely to stop being buttheads. I may be Gryffindors like you but apparently I'm not quite as stupid."

"Amy –" Remus started, looking sad.

"And you! Standing there watching! What did he ever do to you?"

They shuffled their feet sheepishly. Amanda had seen enough, she tossed the four boys wands towards the lake and climbed down while they ran after them. She grabbed the dark eyed boys arm and dashed up to the castle and around the corner.

Stopping, the look in the boy's eyes was anything but grateful; Amanda decided to speak first. She shoved his wand back into his hand.

"I know, you could have handled it and you don't need any help from a stupid little first year Gryffindor."

With that Amanda turned and walked away around the corner, leaving a dazed Slytherin boy behind her. It took him all of two seconds to come to a decision. He ran around the corner, grabbed the first year, and hurled them both into some bushes. His hand was clamped around her mouth and the other was wrapped around her arms, preventing her from moving too much. She stopped struggling as soon as three of the Gryffindors rounded the corner, wands out and angry. Remus wasn't with them. The Slytherin moved so that he could whisper in her ear.

"I believe you meant to say that I didn't need a stupid little first year Gryffindor _girl_ to help me. You're Amy aren't you?" She nodded. "Regulus and Bellatrix were right, you aren't a normal Gryffindors."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He snorted.

"It's the only one you'll get from me," he said. She smiled a little.

"It seems unfair that you've heard about me and I know nothing about you."

"Didn't you hear them say my name?" he sneered. Amanda tried to glare at him, but it was hard when he was behind her.

"I know for a fact that _Snivillus_ is not you're name," she said. The Slytherin smirked.

"True. I'm Severus, Severus Snape."

They lapsed into silence as the boy's grew ever closer to were they were. Amanda could hear Severus's heart beating against her back and reached for her wand, rustling the bushes a little and startling Severus. Did the girl want to get caught? But then she muttered something and the branches on the other side of the clearing rustled loudly. The boys were over there in a heart beat, dashing headlong into the forest after imagined prey.

Severus chuckled and let her up after a moment.

"I'll say it again; you are most definitely not a Gryffindor." She smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought I only got one compliment. I hope you're not going back on you're word." Severus smirked, she was tricky.

"Not at all, it was the same compliment as before." They never got to argue properly about it because a bell signaling the end of lunch rang out across the grounds. They ran inside before having to separate for class.

"Bye Severus. Thanks for the hiding spot!" she called back; he just waved while running in the opposite direction.

Defense against the Dark Arts was exceedingly simple. It was taught by a man with a strange accent and a goatee named Flan. To start off the year Professor Flan had them all read the first several pages of their books and then went over a syllabus with them. Amanda kept looking over at Crab and Goyle, who looked angry and stupid; she was beginning to think that it was normal for them.

After Defense against the Dark Arts Charlie raced her all the way to the Charms classroom, winning only because Amanda tripped on the stairs.

Professor Flitwick was indeed just as small and excitable as James and Sirius had made him seem. He'd gotten so excited when he'd seen her name and that he'd fallen off the stool, just as they had described. Since they had seats in the front Charlie and Amanda were the first ones to reach their diminutive teacher.

"Professor Flitwick are you all right?"

He patted her hand gratefully.

"Of course dear, don't worry it happens all the time."

She and Charlie exchanged looks and returned to their seats. The lesson was spent going over what they would be covering that year. After they'd gone over everything Professor Flitwick gave them the rest of the hour to talk. She and Charlie had Potions, Transfiguration, Defense against the Dark Arts and Charms together. They wouldn't have Care of Magical creatures together, or History of Magic. They talked about the classes they'd had and which teachers they liked. Amanda told him what she thought about Slughorn and he agreed.

"Professor Slughorn is a cheese." Amanda had to laugh at that because it was exactly what Bellatrix had said.

The two dashed up to the common room to drop off their bags. They were just outside the portrait when a voice called out to them.

"Amy! Wait up!" It was Remus. "Can I have a word?" Amanda stood there for a moment before turning to Charlie. Remus thought she was going to walk away but she didn't.

"Charlie could you take my bag inside please?"

"Sure thing." She turned back to Remus.

"Mind if we walk?" She agreed and they set off towards the grounds. They made it outside before Remus spoke again.

"You seemed pretty upset earlier."

"How did you know? Was it the shouting?" she asked sarcastically. Remus cringed a bit at her tone.

"Look, I'm really sorry."

"You guys didn't do anything to _me_."

"Well I'm certainly not going to apologize to Severus."

"Oh I thought his name was _Snivillus_. What did he ever do to you guys anyways?" Remus sighed.

"He's just not a good person."

"That's not a very good reason Remus, and you know it." Remus looked angry.

"I know! I can't explain." He sighed. "Can we at least agree to disagree?" She patted him on the shoulder.

"Still friends?" He smiled, relieved. Remus pulled her into a hug.

"Ah, Remus! Get off! You're heavy." They collapsed laughing on the ground.

"That was a nice piece of magic back there. Did your mum teach it to you?" She laughed.

"No, James did, when he used it on Severus."

"So that was the first time you'd seen it?" he said incredulously.

"Yeah, I'm glad it worked, that would have been a little awkward if it hadn't." Remus chuckled.

"Yeah."

Amanda started looking around; they'd wandered all the way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"I'm going to walk around for awhile. I'll meet you at the castle later OK?" Remus looked unsure but nodded anyways.

"See you at dinner."

Amanda started walking along the edge of the forest. After awhile it curved in and followed the rim of the lake. She didn't know how long she'd been walking before she spotted cliffs ahead of her and turned onto a path leading into the forest. Knowing the forest was dangerous she stuck to the paths that stayed in view of the lake, making sure she couldn't get lost. The path led upwards and before long Amanda found herself in a clearing on a cliff over facing the lake. It was beautiful.

Amanda sat on a large boulder and looked around until she spotted what she needed. She took out her wand; this was a piece of magic she _had_ studied.

"Verto Ledo."

A rock on the ground shifted and glowed faintly, become a grayish looking violin. Another flick of the wand turned a branch on the ground into a bow. Amanda had been playing the violin at her mothers request for the past six years and she loved it.

Amanda strummed a few notes absently before launching herself into the music. The melody started out light and happy, before slowing down and becoming sorrowful. She continued the tune for few more minutes before she picked up the pace and just played whatever came to her fingers. When playing Amanda was lost in her own world, nothing else mattered, and nothing was noticed. Nothing, that is, until a twig behind her snapped with a powerful 'crack!'

She whirled around lowering her instrument. A man appeared from the trees, only it wasn't a man. It was a half man half horse looking creature, a centaur. He had red hair, and his pelt was the same shade. He took another step forward and stopped.

"Such a complicated tune for one so small," he said. Amanda inclined her head.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you. I suppose I wasn't thinking about anyone else in the forest." The centaur chuckled.

"Fear not, for it was lovely, and anyone who might have been disturbed by such music is away in another part of the forest. Who are you small human child? "

Amanda was a little embarrassed; she wasn't even supposed to _be_ in the forest.

"Thank you," she answered politely. "My name is Amanda McGonagall. And you are?"

"I'm known as Gryis."

"I didn't know centaurs liked music. But then again, I'd never met one before. Do you play?" Gryis smiled and walked over to stand beside her. He held out his hands.

"I've seen it done before. But there aren't many instruments lying around in the Forbidden Forest. If I may?"

She handed him the Violin. Gryis placed the violin against his neck, but struggled to put his fingers in the correct place. Amanda automatically reached up to help him but had to back up because she was too short to reach his hands, sometimes being short had its downsides. The centaur chuckled and lowered his hands so she could show him the correct placement.

Gryis learned quickly and soon enough he was playing the violin as if he'd done so all his life. Before long Amanda had transfigured another rock colored violin and they were harmonizing beautifully. After playing for awhile Gryis lowered the instrument.

"I'm afraid I've kept you out long past you're curfew." Amanda grimaced. If it was as late as Gryis said it was then by now she would have to sneak in and risk getting caught. The Centaur smiled guiltily at the First year.

"To make up for keeping you, if you'll allow, I shall walk you up to the castle to ensure you're safety."

"Thank you, I'd be honored."

While walking back Amanda tried to think of a way to ensure she wouldn't get in trouble. They walked for what seemed like hours before the castle came into view and with it the gamekeepers hut. Amanda smiled; she could sleep in the pumpkin patch! Then when she woke up in the morning she could run up to her dorm to shower and change.

"Thank you for escorting me this far Gryis but I think I can make it the rest of the way." Gryis nodded and tried to hand her back the instrument, but she shook her head.

"You can keep that if you want. That way you can play music even when I'm not around." The centaur smiled and nodded.

"Farewell then, little Amanda. I shall take good care of this gift." He turned back to the forest. "Until we meet again, Amanda." With that he disappeared into the dark forest, leaving Amanda to walk through the pumpkin patch.

She searched for a good spot amongst the pumpkins nearest to the hut and settled down, placing her violin next to her, soon falling asleep to the strange sounds of the forest that lay behind her.

**Let me know if you all think this is moving way too slowly… or if you like it! Either way I obviously don't own Harry Potter because if I did things would not have happened like they did and most likely wouldn't have made sense.**


	3. Choosing a side

When Amanda awoke the next morning she was very confused and a large black _something_ towered over her, licking her face. A gruff voice filled the air.

"You there! What do ye think ye'r doin'?"

"Morning Hagrid," she said brightly, sitting up and shoving an over excited Fang off of her.

"Amy? What're ye' doing out here so early?" She stood up and dusted off her robes as best she could.

"Oh, you know, enjoying the pumpkin patch. I've got to go now, see you later Hagrid!" She called, running away before Hagrid could ask anymore questions.

Amanda sprinted up to the castle as fast as her little legs could carry her and pushed open the doors. Inside was a very surprised looking Slytherin prefect.

"Amy! What _have_ you been doing?"

She held up her violin innocently.

"Practicing?"

Regulus rolled his eyes.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"Tell you over breakfast," she called, already half way up the stairs.

Amanda flew up the many staircases until she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. Amanda gasped out the password and ran upstairs to take a quick shower and change. Afterwards she said a quick blessing to Charlie when she found her bag on her bed before shoving the violin into it and running back down the stairs and to the Great Hall.

She paused to catch her breath before slipping into the room as inconspicuously as possible. Her Slytherin group waved her over and Amanda selected a seat between Severus and Regulus. She slipped between the boys, smiling at them both by way of greeting. The prefect turned to look at her as she reached for some toast.

"So what were you doing outside this morning?"

Butter went onto the toast.

"Sleeping."

"Why were you sleeping outside?" Severus asked.

She put the knife down and Rodolphus snickered.

"Who else was there?" he asked. Amanda sneered.

"You'd better be glad I wasn't doing that, it'd be a shame to know a first year Gryffindor got more then you."

The table erupted and she turned back to Regulus and Severus.

"I got distracted in the forest and didn't feel like sneaking back up to the common room."

Regulus asked the next one.

"What were you doing that got you distracted?"

She reached for jam to add to her toast.

"I already told you, practicing."

"Practicing what?" Severus again.

Jam done, she replaced the knife.

"Violin."

Amanda was about to take a bite of her toast when the bell rang, signaling the end of breakfast. She groaned and shoved the piece into her mouth before dragging herself to Potions.

It was much the same as the day before, only this time Steven's sleeve didn't catch fire and they didn't have as much time afterwards to go over the ingredients as a class. This was fine for Steven and Amanda because they went over them all while they worked anyways.

After that Steven and Amanda trudged up to the History of Magic room where he introduced her to a few of his friends. They were all friendly after they got over the fact that she was a Gryffindor and didn't mind chatting quietly while taking notes. Professor Binns had launched right in about the history on goblin wars without even introducing himself. Amanda found herself jerking awake when the bell finally rang, signaling the end of class.

Transfiguration wasn't as interesting as the day before. Charlie and Amanda choose a seat near the back and Professor McGonagall gave them all new safety pins to work with. Amanda flicked her wand and the pin instantly straightened to become the perfect little needle. Charlie's did no such thing.

"I think it's more of a flick in the fingers, not the wrist."

Amanda coached Charlie on the movements and this time it worked, sort of. The pin was a kind of a wiggly line now.

"Excellent, Mr. Weasley!" said Professor McGonagall, appearing seemingly out of thin air and making them jump. "Much better then yesterday."

"Yeah," Charlie said, glancing at Amanda, "but I couldn't have done it if Amy hadn't corrected my hand movements. Look at hers, she's already finished."

Professor McGonagall leaned over to look at Amanda's needle. A moment later she flicked her wand and the needle turned into a matchstick.

"I believe that will provide more of a challenge for you."

With that she walked away, leaving a stunned Charlie behind.

"Well, that's not exactly what I expected," he said.

Amanda shrugged. If her mom wanted her to transform a matchstick she'd do it. They both struggled to fix their objects. The end of class felt like a failure. Charlie's pin was still crocked and Amanda hadn't gotten the head of the match to narrow into a point. They were about to leave for lunch when Amanda was called back.

"Amanda please stay behind, I'd like a word with you." Charlie shrugged and went on ahead. Professor McGonagall's lips were pressed into a thin line.

"When you're friend, Remus, didn't see you at dinner or breakfast he became concerned. He says he left you after class near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I trust you know it's forbidden for a reason?"

"Yes."

"You weren't at dinner either, so where were you?"

"I was practicing," she said, reaching into her bag to show her mother the rock colored violin. "I got a little distracted and missed dinner. But I was at breakfast, Remus must have missed me." McGonagall seemed to think it over.

"Very well, five points from Gryffindor. I suggest you find Remus and assure him that you are, in fact, alive." She returned to the papers on her desk. "You may leave now."

Amanda decided Remus was probably in the Great Hall so she went to find him. She wasn't disappointed; he was sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking to his friends.

"I shouldn't have left her there alone, especially not so close to the forest!" He was saying. Sirius sighed.

"I'm sure she's fine Remus. Besides, if she was stupid enough to go into the forest alone then its not you're problem," he said.

Amanda stood behind them now.

"Thank you, Sirius, for those kind words." She turned to Remus. "The next time you go to my mother, could you please make sure I'm dead _first?_" Remus jumped up and crushed her in hug.

"Where were you? I was so worried!"

"Air Remus, I need air!" He laughed and let go, pulling her down next to him on the bench. Sirius, Peter and James glared but Remus ignored them and looked imploringly at Amanda.

"I went for a walk, started playing some music, got distracted, missed dinner and slept in the pumpkin patch behind Hagrid's hut. Really, nothing to worry about." She turned to Sirius, pointing at his beacon. "Are you going to finish that?" Sirius glared, and, grabbing a fist full of beacon, proceeded to shove it all in his mouth.

"Yeth I ab!" James backed away from him a little before leaning towards Amanda.

"What do you know about Severus Snape?" he asked. It was her turn to glare.

"You mean the boy you snuck up on?"

"He wath athing for ith!" They all looked at Sirius for a moment before continuing.

"He was sitting on the ground reading a book! How is that 'asking for it'?" Amanda asked, exasperated. James leaned forward, getting right in her face.

"He's just not a good person, Amy, and you should stay away from him."

"By the way you were running around with those wands yesterday it looks more like _you're_ the dangerous ones." James sighed and sat back.

"Look, I'm sorry about that. Our tempers just got the better of us. We didn't mean to hurt you."

"Theath for yerseith!" No one knew what he was saying that time, but it didn't sound nice. Amanda got up.

"I've got to go, see you around, Remus." She turned to walk away and saw her Slytherin group waving her over. Bellatrix looked smug.

"It seems like our little Gryffindor is getting under Potters skin." She chuckled evilly as Amanda sat down.

"We don't really see eye to eye."

"How could they?" asked Lucius, "she a foot shorter then him, at least!"

Amanda threw a sausage link at him.

"From the looks of it he was about to attack. Good job." Bellatrix pulled her into a hug. "Now we can annoy him from within his own house!" Lucius and Bellatrix looked like they were having too much fun with this notion and Amanda pulled away.

"I'm not going to do you're dirty work," she snapped. "You're just going to have to let him annoy me on his own before I'll attack." Lucius sighed.

"Oh well, from the sound of things we still won't have to wait very long." Amanda just rolled her eyes, the slimy Slytherin was probably right.

"Poor Sirius didn't look too happy to see you either. You have been busy these last two days." Lucius drawled. "What did you do to make them so angry with you?" Severus froze, a panicked look crossing his face. She shrugged the others off.

"I keep calling him ugly, he should know by now not to ask if he can't stand the answer." Regulus chuckled a bit and Severus looked relived.

"Keep it up. The fool hasn't been this entertaining in years." Amanda scowled angrily and stole some bacon from Bellatrix's plate. Crab and Goyle had wandered over, lumbering like the great big blokes they were. Goyle pointed to her.

"She's a Gryffindor," he said, his voice deep and gravely. She pointed to him and sneered.

"He's a fat boy. See, I can do it too." She could see the gears turning in his head again. The group snickered.

"Did you just insult us?" She mentally slapped herself; there was something _wrong _with this kid!

"Please, let's not do this again. Just punch him and go sit in a hall," she said, waving at them dismissively and munching on Bellatrix's bacon. Regulus looked up.

"Ah, so that's what happened," he said, turning to Goyle. "Give it up kid; she'll beat _you_ _every_ time." Rodolphus looked curious.

"What do you mean 'that's' what happened?'"

"Yesterday she tricked those two into fighting each other during Transfiguration," he supplied before turning back to Amanda. "And _you_ owe me for not mentioning it to your mother."

"Since Regulus owes me, how about I take that favor off your hands?" Lucius said, his smile now more twisted then ever. The way he said it made Amanda's skin crawl. Severus spoke up.

"Oh yes, because a first year Gryffindor can do _so_ much." Amanda was glad, even if he had insulted her a bit; she didn't like the idea of owing anyone a favor, especially Lucius, he made her skin crawl.

"Relax; I was just going to make sure you continued annoying the fools over there," Regulus said, gesturing to the Gryffindor table. "Besides Lucius, I'm sure you'll owe me again sometime this year." Severus, Bellatrix and even Rodolphus relaxed. Lucius looked disappointed for a moment and it made her a little nervous, she'd have to watch him. She laughed a bit.

"No problem there."

Amanda got up once again and sat by Charlie. He introduced her to his older brother Bill, who was two years ahead of them and a prefect. He had long red hair and towered over her, but he was very kind and respectful to everyone.

Lunch ended and they all separated for their various classes. Defense against the Dark Arts was much the same as the day before. The class read the assigned pages and the Professor assigned them more pages for homework. Amanda found herself wishing they would actually do something other then read.

In Charms they were learning to levitate feathers. Amanda and Charlie had theirs zooming around the room, dive bombing each other viciously. A false swish of the wrist sent Professor Flitwick diving off his stool and made the class burst out laughing.

"Sorry Professor!" He just laughed and climbed back onto his stool, waving them out as the bell rang.

As weeks went by Amanda fell easily into a routine. She'd rotate tables at breakfast, and then head off to Potions with Steven, where Amanda would explain all she knew about the wizarding world and only occasionally did a cauldron blow up. On days when she had History of Magic Amanda would chat quietly with Steven and some of his Ravenclaw friends. Amos and Amelia kept her entertained during Care of Magical Creatures as they somehow managed not to frighten away whatever creature the Professor was trying to show them or scare it so bad it attacked them.

Her mother's behavior in Transfiguration continued to confuse and infuriate Amanda though. The professor continued to praise others work and only criticize hers. When papers were handed back Amanda's looked like it had been mauled by a bear it was covered in so much red. Charlie was just as confused as she was but he stopped mentioning it when he saw how annoyed she was by it.

Amanda spent lunch either in a tree reading or with the Slytherins. They learned a few defensive spells in Defense against the Dark Arts and practiced steadily in Charms. Before dinner Amanda could be found in the library with either the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs doing her homework or just hanging out. But she had the most fun after dinner.

Whenever the weather was good Amanda would sneak out into the forest. Gryis had introduced her to a friend of his, a female centaur named Ash. Her name suited her well for her pelt shifted between various shades of gray. Between the three of them they could harmonize and play music all night long. Sometimes they just walked around in the forest talking.

"Did you hear that?" She asked one night, pausing along the path.

"I hear many things in the forest," Gryis responded, unhelpful in the way only a centaur can be.

Amanda shook her head, listening. She wanted to find the sound quickly before she had to run up to the castle, it was nearly dawn. She heard it again; the sound was pitiful and pulled at her heart.

Gryis carefully led the way towards the sound, pushing through low hanging branches and stepping carefully over thick roots. A small rocky outcropping jutted out from a hillside and at the bottom of the hill was a small golden animal, a unicorn. The creature was writhing on the ground, silver blood gushing from its side. Amanda rushed down the hill and fell to her knees at its side. She looked to Gryis helplessly.

"What do we do?"

Gryis shook his head slowly. Amanda looked back to the poor unicorn, they had to do something!

"What about the castle? Hagrid could do something, or the Care of Magical Creatures teacher!"

"But how would you get it there?"

Gryis had a point, the unicorn was thrashing around violently now, and Amanda had been forced to back away. She pulled out her wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The unicorn lifted slowly into the air. It took a lot of concentration to keep him there and Amanda motioned for Gryis to lead the way. They moved as quickly as they could to Hagrid's hut, with the unicorn floating just in front of Amanda and behind Gryis. At the edge of the forest Gryis stopped.

"I must leave you now Amanda, good luck."

Amanda nodded and kept going. The unicorn had stopped thrashing so she was carrying him now and had to kick at the door. Fang could be heard barking from within. A few minutes later Hagrid threw open the door, the light from his hut pooling around her.

"Who's there – Amy?" He looked at the creature in her arms and opened the door, moving out of the way. "Come in."

All the furniture in Hagrid's hut was huge, like him, with a large table taking the majority of the middle of the room. Hagrid took the bleeding unicorn from her hands and set him on the large table, examining the wound quietly. Amanda stood back as Hagrid quickly and efficiently cleaned and bandaged the wound. The unicorn was still unconscious when he finished.

"Stay here with 'em. I have to get the Headmaster."

Amanda cringed; this would be fun to explain. Hagrid put Fang outside before he left. She walked over to where the unicorn was laying on some cushions on the floor. The poor foal was twitching a bit in his sleep so Amanda sat down next to him and began stroking his fur and murmuring encouragingly. His head moved until it was positioned on her knee and he stared up at her with his striking violet eyes. They stayed there until Hagrid returned, with Dumbledore right behind him.

The foal panicked when it saw them, struggling to its feet and moving closer to the young girl beside it. Amanda moved her arms around him, being mindful of the wound on his side, and held him close.

"Don't worry," she crooned, whispering so only he could hear, "they won't hurt you. My names Amanda and I'll protect you." Hagrid and Dumbledore sat down well away from the two figures huddled on the floor. Dumbledore began the expected interrogation.

"Where did you find him?"

She squirmed a little, not meeting Dumbledore's gaze and instead staring at a spot between the little unicorn's ears.

"He was at the bottom of a hill near the edge of the forest."

"Why were you in the forest?"

Now Dumbledore fixed her with those wonderful blue eyes of his, the ones that made you want to spill out you're guts and tell him everything you knew. She found herself unable to look away and squirmed a bit.

"Gryis and I heard a noise when we were walking."

"Gryis would be?"

"A centaur I met near the lake."

She answered carefully.

_Vague but truthful._ Dumbledore nodded after a moment. Hagrid tried to take the foal, but it lashed out, kicking and trying to stab him with the horn he didn't have yet. He didn't calm down until Hagrid backed away, leaving only him and the young girl holding him.

"It seems the young foal will allow only our little Amy near him. As today is Friday I think we can excuse you from class to take care of him. If that's alright with you, Amy?"

Amanda was pleasantly surprised, she'd been expecting him to ask her what she'd been doing out so early. She smiled.

"Of course, thank you."

"In that case, I would ask if I can bother you for some tea, Hagrid?"

"Of cour' Headmaster."

Dumbledore glanced at Amanda.

"And I think some milk would be appropriate, if you have any."

Hagrid shuffled around, fixing tea and looking for milk. Amanda stroked the little unicorn happily. A thought came to her.

"What will you tell mom?"

Dumbledore chuckled.

"Have no fear; I'll tell her the truth, you're taking care of something for me."

Amanda narrowed her eyes.

"She's not going to like it."

Dumbledore just laughed as Hagrid tossed Amanda a bag of milk. She caught it, confused.

"Have him suck on the corner."

The little unicorn found the corner and had climbed into her lap before she could even move and began suckling hungrily. Amanda heard her stomach growl loudly and blushed. With a wave of his wand Dumbledore conjured a plate of pancakes from the kitchen. It was tricky to eat pancakes with a wiggling unicorn in her lap, but Amanda did pretty well; Dumbledore had had the foresight not to include syrup with the pancakes.

Amanda and the unicorn snuck out the back while Hagrid brought Fang in, the large dog was too excitable to be around the injured little unicorn.

The little guy was just like a puppy, albeit a golden puppy with hooves instead of paws. He scampered around after thrown sticks and often knocked her over, just to lie on her stomach for a few minutes until she pushed him off so she could breathe. After awhile Amanda lay down on her side to watch him run around and the little guy bounded over, snuggling up against her chest. She put an arm around him protectively and the two soon drifted into sleep peacefully in the shade of Hagrid's hut.

Nearly the whole day went by before Amanda was awakened by the little unicorn trying to get her up. He was butting her arm frantically. She looked around blearily and saw Severus standing nearby; one raised eyebrow giving away the shock he felt at the sight. Amanda sat up and pulled the unicorn into her lap, whispering soothingly as she did so.

"Shhh. Don't worry, its just Severus. He's a good guy."

The Slytherin in question walked over slowly.

"What makes you think I'm a good guy?" She shrugged.

"If I told you, it might make your ego grow, completely ruining you for anyone else."

"Oh yes, because I care _so_ much what a stupid little first year Gryffindor thinks."

"Then you shouldn't have asked." She stuck out her tongue. "And not to be rude, but why are you here?"

He shuffled awkwardly.

"I never thanked you, for the other day."

"That's okay; you tried to stick up for me when Regulus and Lucius pulled the whole 'you owe me' thing, even if you did insult me in the process. And if you weren't don't tell me, 'cause I don't want know."

"You didn't tell them the real reason why Potter and Black don't like you." He pointed out. Amanda thought for a moment, suddenly coming up with an idea.

"Sit down, if you really want to make it up to me I know what you can do." Severus looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before sitting.

"What did you have in mind?"

She pointed to his bag.

"I've been told that you are the best at both Potions and Defense against the Dark Arts. As I'm getting nowhere in either could you help me a bit with one?"

The boy stared at her for a moment, thinking, he really had no patience for people, but the girl seemed smart enough… for a Gryffindor.

"Fine, and since you can't really stand up to practice defensive spells we'll work on potions."

He pulled out his potions book and they set to work.

Learning with Severus was so much better then the actual class, he knew the real properties to ingredients, the reasons they did what they did and how different ingredients interacted with each other, the stuff not mentioned in their schoolbooks.

He'd originally intended to just go over the basics with her, to skip all that other stuff, but Amanda asked too many of the right questions, and before he knew it Snape was explaining why a sleeping potion that was green could usually be fixed with a sprinkle of aconite and a few counter-clockwise turns. The only thing that brought him out of his explanation was a pulling at his textbook, the unicorn was eating it.

Amanda giggled at his expression and pulled the little guy away. She let him go so he could run and turned back to Severus waiting for him to continue.

"Where were you earlier?" he asked.

"I was abducted by aliens for experimentation." He smirked.

"That would explain a lot."

"Hey! I'm just as normal as the next abnormal girl." Severus chuckled.

"I don't think that even makes sense."

"Sure it did, _you_ understood it. Or maybe it didn't, maybe you're just as strange as I am." In the distance a bell rang, signaling the start of dinner. Severus stood up.

"Are you coming?" he asked, when she didn't get up.

She scowled.

"Call me a coward, but I think I'll stay here and avoid the annoyance that can only be Sirius Black." Severus chuckled again.

"That's not a bad idea," he said, his tone turning teasing, "which is weird coming from a stupid little first year Gryffindor."

She stuck her tongue out.

"Hey, _I_ am a stupid little first year Gryffindor _girl. _AndI'll thank you to get it right."

She mock glared at him for as long as she could before they both burst out laughing. Severus turned to leave.

"See you around Amy. Don't think you're done learning about potions, there's still plenty left to learn."

"That's okay; I'm not out of questions yet!"

He groaned loudly before walking out of earshot. Amanda giggled again. She was glad he was still going to teach her, she had a plan to make her mother praise her, and she'd need all the help she could get to make it work. She lay back in thought.

After awhile the little unicorn butted her arm to attract her attention. She patted his head.

"I'll bet you're hungry, I know I am."

"Then I have good timing." Dumbledore must have been psychic because there he was, with a tray and a bag of milk levitating next to him. The unicorn stood in front of her protectively, head down and ready to charge. Amanda giggled and pulled him into her lap again.

"Again, don't worry, its only Dumbledore, another good person."

With a flick of his wand Dumbledore conjured an armchair and sat down. A sandwich floated over to Amanda. She had to stifle a giggle; Dumbledore just looked so out of place, sitting in a large purple armchair next to a pumpkin patch in his sparkling robes.

"Would you care for some pumpkin juice?"

"Yes please. Is dinner already over?" A glass floated off to her right; ready should she like to take a drink.

"When I didn't see you I thought you might enjoy something to eat and perhaps some company."

"Yes thank you. This little guy isn't much of a talker."

The little unicorn glared at her, as if sensing she was talking about him. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled before a sad look flashed through them.

"He seems quite taken with you." Amanda rubbed his neck and he went back to suckling on the bag of milk. Dumbledore continued.

"He's looking better then he was earlier." Amanda sighed.

"I know he'll have to go back soon. Please don't warn me not to get attached, because I already am."

The little guy made small noises in the back of his throat and Amanda hugged him tighter, burying her face in his soft golden fur.

"I know, you were already attached the moment you brought him to Hagrid's hut." He sipped his drink thoughtfully and studied her with his old blue eyes. "Amanda, I must ask that you do not go into the forest anymore; it isn't safe. And there is a good reason it's called 'Forbidden.'" Amanda sighed.

"Can I still walk by the lake?" Dumbledore nodded.

"At appropriate times," he cautioned.

"Where will he sleep tonight?"

"Where did you sleep on the nights you spent in the forest?" Amanda cringed, it seemed Dumbledore knew everything.

"Pumpkin patch." she whispered.

"I'm sure Hagrid wouldn't mind giving up an armchair for the evening. I do believe one will suffice for the two of you." It wasn't long before Dumbledore had to go back to the castle and the girl and unicorn went inside.

**Yay! Another chapter done. Seriously people, let me know what you think, I live to serve. I don't own anything you recognize… not even the idea of a disclaimer! I'm so unoriginal, anyways, I'll put more up after I get a few more reviews and come up with some more ideas. Later gaters!**


	4. New Soul

Dumbledore had been right. That night both girl and unicorn slept fitfully on a giant armchair in Hagrid's hut after staying up half the night reading. When they woke up Hagrid coached Amanda through removing the bandages, the little guy still wouldn't let anyone else near him. Hagrid deemed the little guy healed the two went back outside.

Something else was waiting for them.

Pure white and molten silver, it stood majestically, head held high. Amanda gasped at the beauty of the large unicorn before her. The golden foal that Amanda had found in the woods bounced happily over to its lost parent. They nuzzled one another affectionately and turned, heading deep into the forest. Amanda's heart ached at the disappearance of such beauty, and ached even more at the loss of her newest companion. He hadn't even looked back.

She walked over to the tree with a heavy heart. It was foolish, she'd known it was coming, and couldn't understand what was making her so sad. Amanda sat against the tree and stared blankly at the lake. It wasn't long before she was joined by Severus; he had a potion book with him.

"Are you ready –" He stopped when he saw her face. "What's wrong?"

She blinked a few times and shook her head.

"It's nothing, I am just being foolish." She looked at him. "What were you saying?" Severus looked around.

"Where's the little guy?"

Amanda looked at the ground and gestured to the forest.

"I told you I was being foolish." she muttered.

Severus didn't know what to say, she was right. She had to know he was going to have to leave eventually. This shouldn't be affecting her the way it was. They sat there for a moment staring at the lake before he continued.

"I brought a book for you to read. I checked it out of the library for you."

"Thanks. Do you want to start where we left off yesterday?"

Severus nodded and they got to work. They sat there for hours, teasing each other and laughing at good jokes until Sirius and James managed to ruin it.

Amanda spotted them first and fell silent. Severus followed her gaze. The boys were heading towards them. She felt Severus tense up next to her, his wand clenched in his fist. Sirius spoke up first.

"Got yourself a girlfriend _Snivillus_?" Amanda's eyes narrowed.

"Jealous, Black? I know you think he's cute but you don't have to worry, he's too old for me."

Peter attempted to insult them back.

"Watch out Amy," he said, "wouldn't want his greasy hair to drip on you."

"Like you're one to talk, do you even own soap? And why are you sticking up for him anyways?" She pretended to have an epiphany. "I know, it's because _you_ love Black." Sirius looked furious but she continued anyways. "I know it seems hard to believe but it's a big world, someone somewhere was bound to like you eventually."

Severus was amazed; did she have any idea what she was doing? Didn't she know how hard they could make life for her; the whole of Gryffindor house would follow them against her. Not to mention there were more of them then there were of her.

Remus placed a restraining arm on Sirius and whispered frantically in his ear. Sirius's face gradually untwisted and he smirked.

"You're right Remus, they aren't worth it. But that doesn't mean I can't –" He had started to pull out his wand but Severus had been waiting for this.

"Expelliarmus!" James and Peter went for their wands but this time Amanda had been waiting. Their wands flew from their hands and landed at her feet. Remus just stood there, looking sad.

Severus looked positively thrilled. Now was the time to get them back for all those years of torment. But Amanda wouldn't let that happen.

"Petrificus Totallis."

The three boys fell backwards with a thud and Remus still just stood there, watching. Amanda put away her wand. Severus was confused.

"What are you doing? Don't you want to get them back?"

"Attacking them now, while they're defenseless would make me just as week and cowardly as they are. We both know we're better then that, let's just go."

Severus sighed and put his wand away, she was right. Amanda waved to Remus as they walked away. Remus waited until the two were long out of sight before he freed Peter, James and Sirius.

Amanda started to feel ill, when Severus had been wondering about her sanity she'd been thinking over all the consequences this could bring. And she had an extra one: her mother would dish out a punishment worse then she would for any other student because if Amanda messed up it was reflected onto _her_. She glanced over at Severus, he looked angry. He was probably mad because she'd stopped him from getting revenge. Amanda stopped walking; she didn't look at him when she talked.

"I need to go to the library."

She changed direction without checking to see if he heard, not really caring. Right now she just wanted to be a coward and hide from the disapproving stare her mother would give, and from her house.

Amanda made it all the way to the library and sat down with a book, idly staring at the cover before changing her mind. She sighed, and, laying the book on a table, made her way to the Great Hall.

_Might as well get this over with now._

Severus watched her disappear from sight before heading to dinner. He slid into his regular spot at the table and began to eat silently. He kept a watchful eye on the door, waiting for either Potter or Amy. Rodolphus though, managed to attract his attention.

"Look at McGonagall, she looks like she could murder."

The Slytherin was right; Professor McGonagall had stridden into the room, her lips pursed in a tight line. She scanned the room before marching over to Dumbledore and whispering in his ear.

"Someone's going to get it!" Bellatrix squealed.

Severus dropped his fork, he'd forgotten about Professor McGonagall.

"Amy," he whispered.

Regulus looked confused, just like the rest of them.

"What do you mean?"

Severus ignored them as James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus entered the room. Remus looked guilty, James and Sirius looked triumphant, and Peter just looked like he was going to wet himself like always. Regulus tried again, this time with more force.

"_What do you mean?"_ Severus scowled.

"She stood up to them, completely insulted Black and Peter, disarmed and humiliated them, and then basically called them both cowardly, weak, and in love with each other." He sighed. "It would have been far worse if it hadn't happened quite like that, but at the same time she shouldn't have done it." He sighed again, gesturing from them to McGonagall. "And now, they have told her mother and Head of House, and will probably soon tell the rest of the Gryffindors not to trust her. All in all, I'd say she is most defiantly about to 'get it'"

_And it's my fault._

Bellatrix scowled, followed by Regulus.

"A house united against one of its own members," she muttered.

"When I told her to annoy them I didn't think she'd get herself screwed in the process." Severus glared at him.

"She's not _completely_ stupid. It had nothing to do with you."

Malfoy interrupted them.

"Looks like we don't have to wait to find out, there she is."

Indeed, there she was. As it was Saturday no one noticed her because she'd walked in late, what made Amy stand out was the way half the Gryffindor table glared at her in hatred and the way the rest of the table looked on, confused by the behavior of their fellow classmates.

Amanda walked down the table with her head up, ignoring the heated and confused stares and found a seat that was relatively isolated and proceeded to ignore everything else, eating quietly. Gossip flew around the room, everyone wanted to know what was going on at the Gryffindor table. From the head of the table whispers spread down until all of Gryffindor stared at her in shock and hatred as, like Bellatrix had said, a house united against one of its own.

The first year stubbornly refused to look up; she could hear what was happening perfectly fine without having to _see_ the murderous looks. She focused on her food and let her hair shield her face from the rest of the table until a disturbance in the whispering got her attention. Someone sat down next to her, Charlie, and he looked angry. He nudged her arm.

"Some day you've been having. Insulting Sirius, teaming up with a Slytherin and sneak attacking him and his friends. Busy busy bee." He was smiling as he talked.

"Not exactly what happened, just enough to be mildly true."

"So what did happen?"

"They came over and started insulting us, so I insulted them back. Then Sirius pulled out his wand and the Slytherin disarmed them. I didn't want a fight to break out so I paralyzed them and we left." Charlie whistled.

"I bet they _loved_ being bested by a first year," he said.

"You don't hate me?" she asked.

"It sounds like they're the ones who started it."

"You know you're committing social suicide right about now."

He shrugged, amazing her. Amanda looked at him for a minute, speechless, before nodding, a small little amazed smile forming on her lips.

"Will you do something else for me?" she asked. "I haven't looked at the Head table yet." Charlie cringed, looking apologetic.

"She most definitely knows," he said, making her groan in dismay.

"I suppose it was too much to ask that they wouldn't tell her."

"At least you never have to worry about being sent a howler." Amanda freaked.

"Shh, don't talk so loud, she might hear you."

Someone sat down on her other side and both Gryffindors turned. The Gryffindor was glaring at the rest of the table.

"Bill," said Charlie, sounding shocked. "Why are you here?"

"I have to look out for my brother; from the looks they're giving I didn't feel he was very safe." Amanda cringed and turned back to Charlie.

"I told you, social suicide, and possibly normal suicide too." He just waved her off and looked at his brother.

"It wasn't her fault; she was just defending her friend," he insisted. Bill regarded them for a moment and sighed, shaking his head.

"Very well then," he said and turned his gaze to Amanda. "You realize that you are in for a rough couple of months?"

"And you realize that you're also committing social suicide?"

"Like I said before, I have to look out for my little brother and his friend." Amanda smiled and Charlie changed the subject. Allowing the three to laugh and eat, snubbed by their own table until the bell rang.

As the student population crowded around the doors to get out Amanda tried to sneak out behind Bill and Charlie's tall forms, but there was no hiding from Professor McGonagall's sharp eyes.

"Amanda! A word if you please." she called, her mouth in a tight line.

Amanda cringed and turned around, preparing herself mentally to follow after her mother. Charlie patted her shoulder and smiled sympathetically and Amanda walked after her mother.

In the Professors office Amanda was given the talking to of a lifetime, nothing she said made any difference, and when it was all done she just wanted to find a dark hole somewhere to hide in.

The months following were the worst of Amanda's life, her whole house ignored or tried to bully her except Charlie and Bill, they were her only friends in Gryffindor. Bill wouldn't let anyone bully her in his presence but he wasn't always around and Amanda had to be constantly on her toes.

The first time Amanda pulled back the covers to her bed large spiders jumped out at her. She'd screamed so loud that when she went downstairs the entire house was waiting for her, laughing as she ran out the portrait hole with tears in her eyes. When she'd knocked on Hagrid's door, still trembling, and begged him to let her sleep in his armchair for the night the large game-keeper took pity on the little blue eyed first year and gave her a blanket, letting her take the armchair closest to the fire for the night.

The other houses were more lenient, all her old friends still talked to her after she told them what had happened, excluding the bit about Severus of course, and had formed a sort of protective barrier around her from her own house.

Amanda threw herself into her studies; if she wasn't in class Amanda could almost always be found in the library, sometimes with students from other houses who were helping her study or complete an assignment. When the library closed she went outside, to her spot by the lake, and continued to study, never once sleeping in her dormitory. Amanda's teachers were thrilled by her sudden academic improvement; her friends were worried about her health.

She didn't go into the forest anymore but she couldn't not go to the lake. Although even the trips to play with Gryis and Ash became less frequent as she studied more. She'd decided that she would just have to be the best, so that her mother wouldn't have anything to criticize and be forced to praise her.

The only meal she went to was dinner, and only then because it was necessary. She got to see a lot of Amos and Steven, but she avoided both the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, trying to spare Charlie and sure that Severus was still mad at her.

Amanda was sitting on the cliff overlooking the lake when something butted her arm. She looked around and gasped, it was her unicorn. He was bigger, his pelt was thicker to protect him from the cold, and a long silvery horn sprouted from his forehead.

**Amanda.**

The word materialized in her head just as it had been with the hat, she was amazed, Amanda didn't know unicorns had telepathic abilities; it hadn't been in any of the books she was reading either.

She reached out to rub his neck and he stepped forward, nuzzling her affectionately.

**Amanda.**

She smiled. "You know my name, but what's yours?"

**I am known as Carlisle. **

Carlisle laid down next to her, allowing Amanda to share his warmth, something for which she was very grateful as it had gotten much colder over the months.

The unicorn turned out to be a very good conversationist; he was wise, witty and thought with a logic that truly made Amanda wonder over things she'd never even thought about before, like the point of handshakes, and the reasoning behind fighting over a bowl of Jello.

"Most humans _really_ like food, and some enjoy watching people fight, so I'm guessing someone just put the two together and called it good."

**But they do not eat the Jello afterwards?**

"I don't think so."

**Then what is the point of the food they end up wasting anyways?**

"I have no idea, but someone must have thought it was a good idea."

**You humans are very strange.**

"You unicorns are very secretive; I didn't even know you had the ability to speak through my mind."

**We don't often speak to humans; they continue to puzzle us so we keep our distance.**

"Well I'm glad you talked to me, I was feeling very lonely."

**I noticed, you have not yet told me why you are feeling so unhappy.**

"I'm not sure I can explain correctly but I'll give it a shot."

Amanda proceeded to explain the house system, including the enmity between the houses. She told him the story of what had happened, how they constantly tried to torment Severus, how she'd stopped him from getting revenge, and how the four Gryffindors were getting _their_ revenge on her.

When she got to the part involving her mother Amanda found herself explaining her plan to be the best so her mother would find nothing wrong and be forced to praise her efforts.

**I don't believe the Slytherin boy is mad at you, you should talk to him. Why is you're mother's praise so important to you?**

"I might talk to him," she sighed. "I suppose its just natural human greed at work, I want what I see passed right under my nose, and yet just out of my reach."

**Then I have the same advice for you, talk to her. But I am not an expert on humans, if you think your plan will work then you should use it. Just don't do anything rash.**

"You don't have to worry about that, I know there are a lot of people who have it much worse then me."

The two lapsed into a peaceful silence and before long they had fallen asleep on each other, her small body curled into his and his head resting on her leg, just as they had when he was injured.

**Two chapters in about twenty minutes, that's some kind of record for me ******** I've got a hit from Poland! You know who you are Mr. or Mrs. Awesome! I have one from Honduras too, but I admit to not actually knowing where that is… sorry. Well, I'm going to stop rambling now, review if you have suggestions! Or if you like it!**


	5. Back to normal, or not

She was looking for him, books were not half as efficient at teaching potions and no one else knew as much as he did, and she missed Severus's dry sense of humor.

Amanda rounded a corner but something large and hairy blocked her way, and it had eight legs. She recoiled and backed away swiftly, spiders frightened her, and there was more then one. They were horrible, almost black with extremely hairy legs, and long pincers or fangs dripping with saliva. The spiders backed her into a corner, surrounding her.

She slid down the wall and shut her eyes tightly, pretending they weren't there, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking uncontrollably. A spider the size of a small dog started climbing up her legs, Amanda whimpered quietly to herself and tried to push herself as far as she could into the wall.

The weight on her legs vanished with a thud and an arm reached down to pull her up, it belonged to Severus. He pulled her swiftly through the throng of spiders, dark eyes blazing.

Severus had her sit on the desk of an unused classroom; he was relieved to find she wasn't crying, just shaking a lot. She looked horrible though, exhausted, and pale, with dark circles under her eyes.

"You look awful." Amanda grabbed his arm, holding tightly for reassurance.

"Thanks, because that's what every girl wants to hear," she said sarcastically. She took a deep breath. "Really though, thanks for, you know, back there."

He nodded.

"I mean it though; you look like death warmed over. _And_ you've been avoiding me."

"I'm just tired." She looked sheepish. "I thought you might still be mad at me for getting in the way of your… revenge."

He sighed in exasperation.

"I was never mad at _you_, I was mad at _them_." He stared at her for a moment and she leaned her head on his arm, still holding tightly. "Did you at least read the book I left you?" Amanda smiled.

"Of course. What else would I do when while avoiding Black and Potter?"

"Sleep? You yourself admitted you were tired." She smirked a little.

"No, you see that makes too much sense, it wouldn't fit in with my reputation as a stupid little first year."

He pulled her away from his arm gently.

"Go back to you're dormitory and get some sleep, I have to go take care of a few things."

Severus stalked down the hall, he didn't know exactly where to find the sick bastards but he would, and he would make them pay. Sweeping through the school Severus had time to wonder why he cared. She was just some first year, and a Gryffindor at that. Even if she'd been in his house he wouldn't have cared normally, so why now?

It was because she was different then most people, Amanda saw things in people that they didn't even know were there, and she stuck up for the unknown person within. Besides, what the group had just done was just plain _wrong_.

Remus was reading in the courtyard when Severus found him. The Slytherin pounced on him, pushing him up against the wall by the collar of his shirt.

"You know, I didn't think you guys could sink any lower but I guess I was wrong."

"What _are_ you going on about, Severus?"

"Giant spiders? She's just a first year!"

"What spiders? What first year?"

Severus let him down, Remus didn't know what was going on which meant he hadn't been part of the prank. Knowing this didn't make Severus any less angry, it just meant hew couldn't take it out on Remus, and he didn't have enough proof to tell McGonagall.

"You're friends decided to surround Amy with giant spiders, which she just happens to be terrified of."

He was pacing now and Remus looked livid.

"I'm going to murder them."

Now Remus was stalking down the halls; sending giant spiders after a first year was just cruel. Remus saw Amanda walking down the hall and called out to her.

"Amy, hang on a second." She stopped and looked at him impatiently. Remus searched her for injuries, she looked alright, just exhausted.

"Are you okay? I heard what Sirius and the others did and I am _so_ sorry. I had no idea they would take this so far. I tried to tell them not to tell you're mom but they wouldn't listen. I'm sorry."

She put up a hand to stop him.

"Calm down Remus, I'm too tired to listen to you talk that fast. Don't worry about it, they didn't listen to you and she didn't listen to me. And I'm ok, although I've been ordered to take a nap."

"You do that, you look horrible." She rolled her eyes. "I have to go yell at some people." He started to walk away but she stopped him.

"How did you find out?"

"Severus almost took my head off," he called back. Amanda laughed and walked to the dormitory, completely baffling the Fat Lady.

"You're actually here at a normal time! Has someone died?"

"Ha ha it is to laugh. Real funny. Baubles." The portrait swung foreword, granting her entrance to the common room.

"I couldn't resist dear."

Inside Amanda got strange looks cast her way, they weren't used to seeing her, normally the only time Amanda came into the common room was extremely early in the morning when they were all asleep; she could shower and change long before they awoke.

She waved cheerfully at them and walked upstairs. From outside the door Amanda could hear someone crying from within, she sighed before entering quietly. A girl she recalled as being Alice Jennings was curled up on her bed, a letter on the floor.

Amanda approached cautiously. She picked up the letter and set it on the bed before she too sat down hesitantly next to the distraught girl.

"Alice, what's wrong?"

But the child would have none of it.

"Why should you care? You'll probably just tease me!"

Amanda tried to hide her irritation at that comment, she never teased people unless she thought they could take it, this girl obviously couldn't in her state.

"Nonsense, have you ever seen me bully anyone?" Alice shook her head slowly, trying to choke down a sob. "Now, tell me what has you so upset." Alice sobbed harder.

"Its m-my dad, he d-died in a car accident last week!" Amanda rubbed the crying girls shoulder comfortingly, but wasn't sure what to say; how do you comfort a person on something you've never felt?

"I can't say I know how you're feeling, but I can tell its hurt you a lot. But Alice, you have to – are you religious?"

Alice looked confused; she was so surprised she stopped crying for a moment.

"What?"

"You're Christian aren't you?"

"Yes but-"

"And you're father, he was too?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then at least you know he's in a good place, watching over you? And you'll see him again won't you?" Amanda sighed a little. "I'm not terribly good at cheering people up I'm afraid. But think about it this way, you miss him a lot, and you had really good times with him right? Well you can still have a good time, and remember the fun you two had and how now you're spreading _his_ legacy onto others."

Amanda sighed again, this wasn't coming out right. Alice sobbed again.

"But it hurts to think about him! When will it go away?"

"I don't think it will. I think after time the pain just becomes part of who you are and you don't notice it as much. Like when you have a headache but then you start having fun and forget about it, its still there, but you don't notice the pain as much."

Alice sniffled, at least she'd stopped crying; Amanda thought it a miracle considering how bad she was butchering her attempt to cheer the girl up.

"Thank *sniffle* you." Amanda pulled the blankets up around the girl and tucked her in before pulling the curtains closed and retiring to her own bed.

"Good night Alice, sleep well."

"Good night, Amy," she said softly.

Amanda curled up and immediately fell into the best sleep she'd had in months, worn out and extremely comfortable in her own bed.

Grateful to Amanda, Alice spread the word that she was actually a good person and soon Amanda found that between her, Charlie, and Bill, most of the house forgot their previous ill will and she was once again accepted.

Amanda continued to meet Carlisle, Gryis, and Ash by the lake and also continued ravenously reading any of the books in the library that could help her become better in her classes. Severus continued to help Amanda with her Potions studies, and they began brewing some of the potions he was teaching her. Working on a potion gave the two a lot of time to talk of other things and soon Severus asked her about her mother.

"Why does you're mother ignore you?"

He'd heard about Transfiguration classes and how McGonagall never praised her daughter.

"She doesn't ignore me."

This was the truth, her mother criticized often, pointing out the flaws that were becoming increasingly rare, that wasn't ignoring. Severus snorted.

"Sorry, let me rephrase that. Why does you're mother only criticize you're work?"

She shrugged.

"Good answer," he said sarcastically.

"Do you want to tell me about you're home life?" He grumbled and let it drop. After a few minutes of silent working Amanda decided to satisfy some of her curiosity about Severus Snape.

"You like Lilly don't you?"

He turned around slowly but she wasn't looking at him, she was stirring her potion. He thought for a moment.

"If I tell you then you have to tell me about you and you're mother."

"Fine, but I'll warn you, it's terribly boring."

"She's my neighbor. And yes, I do like her, a lot, but she doesn't like me like that."

"How do you know?"

"She doesn't approve of the people I hang out with."

"She doesn't like me? I'm horribly offended." Severus scowled to cover up his smile at her tone of voice.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"I can see her point, Avery has issues. Is that why Potter doesn't like you?"

"Who knows?"

"Why don't you take her to Hogsmeade sometime, without you're friends or hers." Severus was taken aback.

"By myself? Just the two of us? She'd never say yes." Amanda smiled.

"You won't know unless you ask her."

"How could I, she's always with Potter or Black?" Amanda turned to her best friend, sarcasm.

"Hhmm, if only there was some animal that carried messages back and forth, what a novel idea!" Snape grumbled.

"I don't own an owl."

"Oh now you're just making up excuses!"

"Black or Potter would see the letter."

"If you don't do it _I'll_ ask her!" Amanda had meant it as a joke but Severus leapt on the suggestion.

"Would you? She's your friend too, and this way Black and Potter don't have to know." Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Fine." The two went back to their potion for a few minutes before Severus remembered something important.

"You didn't tell me what was up with you're mom."

She frowned and glared at the potion, as if blaming it for her mother's actions before sighing.

"I honestly don't know." She brightened up a little. "See, I told you it was boring." Severus didn't know what to tell her so he didn't respond and they finished the potion in silence.

Amanda decided to keep her promise the next day, even if it did mean approaching Sirius and James. She found the group down by the lake, Remus was missing again.

"Lilly! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Lilly looked confused for a minute but went with her anyways.

"Hey, Remus told me what really happened and I'm really sorry about being mean to you like that. He told me about the spiders too, I'm really sorry about that too." Amanda waved her off.

"Don't worry about it. The past is that past. But I actually came here because of Severus." Lily looked confused.

"What about Severus?"

"He wants to know if you would go to Hogsmeade with him next weekend." Lilly narrowed her eyes.

"Why didn't Severus ask me himself?"

Amanda gestured to the Gryffindor group that was watching them suspiciously.

"Oh, yeah. Right, well, yeah, of course, I'd love to! Will you tell him for me?" Amanda nodded. "Good, well then I'll see you around. I got to go to the library, bye." Lilly walked away, leaving Amanda alone with the group of Gryffindors still watching her curiously.

"Oi! Amy! Come here."

Amanda ignored them and started towards the castle, she was between the lake and the boys, not exactly the ideal place to be. She heard one of them yell something and her wand flew from her pocket. Amanda turned around exasperated.

"Give it back."

They walked closer.

"We just wanted to know what was so important." Sirius's voice was oily and not at all appealing. Amanda scowled.

"We were debating whether you'd end up with Peter or Severus," she said. Sirius glared.

"I'll bet he only hangs out with you because you're sleeping with him," Sirius said. "Tell me, how bad is the greasy haired git? Although I bet he seems great to _you_." James looked horrified but Sirius continued. "So how many of the Slytherins _are_ you sleeping with?"

Amanda was outraged, how dare he think that! James put up a restraining hand.

"Sirius that may have been a bit much."

"That's rich coming from the guy that hits on anything that moves!" Sirius pulled out his wand. "But then, I guess you have to hit on everything in the hopes that maybe one day something will like you back, although I doubt it!"

"Stupefy!" "Stupefy!"

The two spells hit Amanda right in the chest and she flew backwards through the air, landing with a splash in the lake. James looked at his two friends, horrified.

"What have you done?"

**Thank you for your review and messages, I can't wait for more. ******** Just so you all know this is going to be a pretty long story, and will probably have a sequel. Enjoy. **


	6. Time warp!

**To Naflower05- thanks! And about the flan thing, yea I kept having that problem too; I just didn't really know how to word it better without making the sentence sound even weirder.**

**To Piper- Carlisle is so my favorite character in this story!**

**To Jenea Cappoen- thanks! :) **

The two boys couldn't respond with anything other then horrified looks. James rapidly shed his outer robe and dove in, leaving a stunned Peter and Sirius behind to stare at the wands in their hands.

James nearly gasped as the cold water enveloped him, it was freezing. He ignored it and searched frantically for any sign of the unconscious girl, the water swirling around him eerily. James was rapidly running out of breath and knew the first year girl wouldn't last much longer.

Something swirled around him and he saw her, a tentacle wrapped around her pale form, it was pulling her up and James followed. Above the surface the giant squid lifted Amanda high into the air before setting her down on part of its surfaced head and swimming off towards the other side of the lake.

Severus had seen the whole thing; he seemed to have a knack for finding Amanda when things were at their worst. He raced around the lake; he had a large head start on Black and Potter and with his long legs soon left them behind.

It wasn't long before he found her, the squid had lain her down in a clearing and a red centaur was kneeling beside her limp form. Severus ignored the centaur and threw himself down next to her to check her breathing and pulse; he was relieved to find that both where steady, if a bit slow. She was pale though and her lips were blue.

"She needs to be taken back to the castle."

It was the centaur that had spoken. Severus was frantic, how long would it take him to carry her all the way back to the castle and up to the nurse? The centaur seemed to understand the problem; he lifted Amy into his arms and gestured for Severus to move closer.

"Get on; I will take you to the castle."

Severus didn't hesitate and climbed up quickly, the centaur handed him the unconscious Amanda and told him to hold on before galloping out of the forest.

Severus cradled the shaking girl to him and leaned forward, trying desperately not to fall off as the branches slapped at his face and hands. They passed the Gryffindor boys like a blur and were soon at the castle doors.

The Slytherin climbed down and the centaur handed Amanda to him carefully. She was still unconscious and felt limp in his arms.

"Amy is strong, she will survive." The centaur assured. Severus didn't pause to wonder about how the centaur knew her name or why it had helped them and ran into the castle, racing up the stairs as fast as he could with Amanda in his arms and up to the infirmary.

"Madame Pomfrey!" he called.

The nurse ran out of her office, taking the girl from his arms and laying her on a nearby bed.

"What happened?"

Severus gritted his teeth.

"She fell in the lake and couldn't get out. She was unconscious when I found her."

The young nurse nodded and ran her wand over Amanda's body, muttering a few spells. Color slowly returned to Amanda's cheeks and lips and she opened her eyes. She sat up slowly, still shivering, looking around until she saw Severus and then focusing on him, confused.

"You're not dripping lake water, so how did…?" James, Peter and Sirius ran in, James was soaking. "Ah," she said.

They we're panting, Peter had fallen to his knees, gasping for breath. Amanda coughed slightly to cover her grin over the boy's bedraggled appearances.

Madame Pomfrey walked away and Sirius dragged himself closer to Amanda, forgetting or ignoring Severus.

"I'm really sorry, Amy! I never meant for you to end up in the lake. I'm so so-" She cut him off, scowling.

"Shut up Sirius, you're not sorry, you're just covering you're butt because you're afraid I'll tell Professor McGonagall." There was real disgust in her voice when she spoke and Sirius flinched and backed away.

Amanda rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked around.

"Does anyone know where my book bag is?"

"I believe it is still by the lake," Severus said.

She hopped off the bed and started walking towards the door, completely ignoring the Gryffindors.

"Will you show me?" Severus followed her out of the infirmary, also ignoring the Gryffindors.

"It's in the forest," he warned.

"I thought so, that is why I need someone to show me." She stopped and sighed before turning back to the infirmary. "Wait here."

Severus stood where he was, a moment later her heard two distinct crashes and she walked out, holding her wand. Amanda flicked her wand and her clothes dried, noticing that he, too, was wet she dried his too.

"That's better. May we continue?"

They started walking.

"What did you do?" he asked after a few moments.

"I got my wand back." Her tone suggested that she wouldn't answer any questions so Severus dropped it.

The walk to the lake was quick and quiet; they were almost there before either of them spoke again.

"If James was the one who went into the lake, then why were you the one in the hospital wing?" she asked.

"Potter couldn't find you; it was the giant squid that brought you to the surface. It carried you to the other side and put you in a clearing. A centaur was the first to find you, followed by me. He gave me a ride to the castle and I took you to the infirmary."

"Thank you," she said. Severus noticed that she wasn't surprised by most of this; centaurs never helped humans, so why wasn't she surprised?

"You don't seem very shocked by any of this."

"I got over the shock of being thrown into the lake while I was still in it. I'm not very surprised that James tried to rescue me for the same reason I'm not surprised you carried me up to the hospital wing, you're both good people where it matters."

Severus was shocked to be called a good person, what did she know about him? He was also shocked that she compared him to James; he was nothing like the arrogant jerk. But he said nothing about either point, for there was something else he wanted to know.

"The centaur, you're not surprised by it because you know him. He even knew your name." It wasn't a question, Severus knew he was right, and with that last bit of information Amanda couldn't deny it.

"Gryis," she whispered.

"I'm sorry?"

"Gryis is the centaur that carried you. He's a friend of mine." The trees gave way to a small clearing, and in it lay a lumpy bag, Amanda's books. Although the bag was sopping wet, when Amanda opened it the books were just as dry as they had been before being thrown into the lake.

"You enchanted you're bag?" Severus was impressed; such spells were far beyond the level of a first year. Amanda nodded, a little embarrassed at the surprise in his voice.

"I needed the practice," she explained.

Severus just shook his head and they began the long walk back up to the castle.

"She said yes, by the way," Amanda said as they exited from the forest.

"What?"

"Lily said she would _love_ to go to Hogsmeade with you." Severus was incredulous.

"_That's_ what you went over there to do?"

"You don't think I normally go around talking to those guys do you?"

"Did you tell Potter?"

"Nope, we just swapped insults a bit."

"I noticed that you started yelling, not letting Black get under your skin now are we?" Severus couldn't help but tease her a little. Amanda looked away.

"He went too far."

"Its Sirius, of course he went too far." She sped up a little.

"Come on lets get to lunch, I'm hungry." Now Severus was really interested, what _had_ Black said?

They sat down across from each other at the Slytherin table, Bellatrix and Regulus flanking Amanda and Lucius and Rodolphus on either side of Severus.

Amanda couldn't get Sirius's words out of her head, was that what people thought of her? She mentally shook herself, of course not, Black was just being his usual self, and she was only eleven years old for Pete's sake!

Confident as she was that Black was just screwing around, she couldn't help but glance around at the rest of the hall, wondering what they were thinking. The others seemed to notice and after a few minutes of trying to get her attention Lucius leaned forward, waving his hand in her face.

"Hello? Anybody in there?"

Amanda blinked rapidly and stared at him, confused.

"We've been trying to ask you a question. What's wrong with you? You've been glancing around like you're waiting for someone to attack you." Bellatrix's tone was teasing and the others laughed; only Regulus and Severus remained silent.

"Sorry, go on."

Amanda tried to engage herself in the conversation but the conversation ended abruptly when Sirius, Potter, Peter, and Remus walked in. Remus looked angry, James looked amused and Peter and Sirius both sported large black eyes. Cat calls came from the Slytherin table and Amanda found herself wanting nothing better then to punch out the other eye when their appearance brought back their earlier insults.

Bellatrix chuckled evilly.

"I wonder who had the brains to do that, and why." Severus eyed Amanda, who was still distracted, watching the Gryffindor group.

"I believe it was just someone who wanted their wand back." Severus stated, looking pointedly at Amanda. Bellatrix gasped, a pleased smile spreading across her face, and Lucius looked positively radiant.

"You did that? Why?" Regulus asked, more then a little surprised.

"You can't prove I did that, besides, like Severus said, they had my wand," she said. Severus narrowed his eyes.

"I take it this means you won't be informing Professor McGonagall," he said disapprovingly.

"Inform her of what, that they took her wand?" Lucius asked, trying to weasel out more information but they ignored him.

"I think it's covered," she sighed, "whether it's because of their eyes or Remus."

She nodded in Remus's direction and indeed it looked like the boy was going to take care of things for her. Remus and Professor McGonagall were talking animatedly.

It wasn't long before McGonagall glided towards them to stand behind Severus, gazing at Amanda with her lips pressed together in a disapproving line. She gestured for Amanda and Severus to follow her. Remus, Peter, James, and Sirius joined them as they passed and they all congregated in McGonagall's office. She walked behind her desk and waved her wand, conjuring enough chairs for the six of them.

"Sit." She took a deep breath. "What I've heard is shocking, I cannot believe that any student at this school would behave in the manner some of you have today. Let alone members of my own house!" She fixed each of them with a look before going on. "But before I decide on punishments, I wish to hear exactly what happened."

She fixed each of them with another look, waiting for someone top speak up but no one volunteered. Remus kicked the back of Sirius's chair and Sirius cleared his throat nervously.

"Well you see, Amy and Lily were talking, and then Lily ran off really quickly, so of course we were wondering what had been said. So naturally we called Amy over."

Peter interjected.

"She wouldn't tell us what was going on with our friend!"

"If it had concerned you at all I'm sure Lily would have told you," Amanda said softly. James took over the story from there.

"Sirius and Amy exchanged a few words." He glanced nervously at the two.

"I only spoke the truth." Sirius muttered. Amanda sneered at him in anger.

"Wouldn't it be sad if it were true, to know that an _eleven_ year old got more then you?" Sirius glared.

"Only because you're so naïve!"

"I think it's because none of the guys here swing quite the way you do!"

"At least I don't have to lower myself to _that_!" He jumped up and so did Amanda, they were inches apart.

"Because even 'that' wouldn't take you!"

"A dog wouldn't take you!" he shouted.

"Are you using yourself as an example?"

Professor McGonagall stood up.

"That is quite enough!" she shouted. "Now, I don't know what's going on but it's quite obvious that the two of you have some unresolved issues. Sit down!" They all sat but Sirius glared at Amanda while she just ignored him. "Now, James, please continue." James shifted a little awkwardly.

"Well anyways, things heated up a bit and Sirius pulled out his wand. Peter pulled his out as well but Sirius didn't know that, they both shot their stunning spells at once and Amy was thrown into the lake." James fell silent for a moment, as if remembering the horror at what they had almost done. "Amy probably would have drowned if it weren't for the giant squid." Amanda felt the need to interrupt here.

"In all fairness, James tried to find me; the squid just beat him to it."

James locked eyes with the first year Gryffindor and they both nodded, signaling to each other that between them all was forgotten, perhaps they would never be friends, but they were all right.

"Please go on," Professor McGonagall said. The group turned to Severus; he had been the next one to reach her. He sighed and advanced the story.

"I was closest to where the squid set her down so I had a head start and found Amy in a clearing with a centaur kneeling next t o her. He took us back to the castle and from there we went to the hospital wing." Professor McGonagall turned to Peter and Black.

"I see, and when exactly did the two of you end up with black eyes?" There was much shuffling of feet before Sirius spoke up.

"In our hurry to get to the Hospital wing we slipped."

Amanda was a little surprised they weren't ratting her out on this, but she kept her mouth shut. McGonagall pursed her lips, obviously not believing them.

"Very well, Severus, James, and Remus may go. And as for the rest of you, I am very disappointed in all three of you. Gryffindor students no less! Now, Mr. Beery is collecting seeds from several plants of his and will require some help to get them all, I'll inform him that the three of you will be helping him every night this week."

"But Professor," Sirius protested. "It's a Hogsmeade weekend!" She gave him a look that plainly said 'so what?'

"I'm sure the two of you will get along much better during detention."

With that she pushed Peter and Sirius out of her office where Remus and Potter were still waiting. Amanda could hear Sirius start to complain loudly.

"She gave us detention, during a Hogsmeade weekend!"

"Serves you right after the things you said!"

Her mother walked back to her desk.

"I don't know what's been going on with you. You've been going into the forest, you look exhausted, you're whole house ignored you for months, and now you're getting into fights! What next? Will you blow up your dormitory?"

"Of course not Mom, I just –"

"After you're detention with Mr. Beery is served you will spend the following week in here, copying lines for me."

"But I –"

"That is all."

It was clearly a dismissal, so Amanda left, feeling rather dejected. Feeling down, Amanda did what she always did, threw herself into her studies.

Two weeks passed before Amanda talked to Severus again, her detentions took place during their normal study time so they rarely got to speak. On her first night of freedom she found Severus sitting in the library by himself.

"What are you reading?"

"Oh you're done avoiding me now?" He was sneering at her, and Amanda was offended that he would think that.

"I haven't been avoiding you, I've been in detention," she said, unable to hide the annoyance in her voice.

"Black and Pettigrew got out after a week."

"She gave me another week of lines with her."

He looked a little apologetic after hearing that.

"Why, you didn't do anything wrong?"

Amanda shrugged.

"Have fun in Hogsmeade?" Severus smiled in remembrance.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Even better since Black wasn't around."

"Go on, say it, I'm the best. Not only did I ask her, but I got Black out of the way too." He laughed at her.

"And nearly killed yourself in the process."

"Trifles," she brushed it off. "You've got to look at the big picture. Admit it, I'm good."

Severus sighed in mock defeat.

"Not bad for a stupid little first year Gryffindor." He paused and she sat down. "What did Black say down by the lake?"

"He said a lot of things, be more specific."

"What made you start yelling at him, and what were you talking about in McGonagall's office?"

"I questioned his sexual preference again, he got a little mad."

"That doesn't explain why you got so angry."

"Few things could explain why I got mad."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

She sighed.

"I'm not going to tell you, so you might as well drop it." She stood up. "I'm going to go study in the common room."

Amanda walked down the hall towards the common room, humming quietly to herself along the way. She passed the Bloody Baron, and stopped, suddenly struck by an odd thought. She stepped up behind him.

"Excuse me," she said quietly. "But may I ask you a personal question?"

He looked at her peculiarly for a moment before nodding.

"What is your real name?"

The Bloody Baron turned completely around to look at her now, peering at the bold first year in front of him intently. It was not often that a first year would be brave enough to talk to him, but then again, she was a Gryffindor, and they were supposed to be brave. After a moment he turned slightly, looking thoughtful, and perhaps, just slightly embarrassed.

"In truth I no longer remember my true name," when he spoke, his voice was deep and would seem to rumble from deep within his chest were it not obvious that nothing rumbled in his chest anymore. Amanda nodded.

"Then forgive me for bringing it up." Amanda was about to say good bye and return to her common room as planned when Peeves showed up.

"Ickle little firsty shouldn't bother the Baron sir man, s'not polite it isn't," he cackled gleefully, holding up a water balloon.

Amanda groaned inwardly, she hadn't had a run in with Peeves yet, but it appeared her luck had just run out. Peeves drew back his arm, ready to unleash his water balloon induced terror upon her.

"Leave the girl alone, Peeves."

The deep voice of the Bloody Baron shocked both Amanda and Peeves, who was so shocked he dropped his balloon, right next to Amanda where it splattered on her slightly. The Barons' eyes narrowed.

"I did warn you, Peeves."

Peeves blanched and zoomed away quickly, the Bloody Baron following in a slightly more dignified manner and looking as if he could murder Peeves, where that still possible.

Amanda stood in a slight daze for a moment, the Bloody Baron was definitely not known for helping out students who were faced with Peeves, even if he and Dumbledore were the only two who could control the poltergeist. She mentally shook her head and continued down to her dormitory, slightly dazed by her short meeting with the ghost. She wondered briefly what a ghost could really do to another ghost but shook it off, not liking the idea all that much.

Time passed and the months flew by, Amanda didn't have any more run ins with Peeves, he seemed to avoid her like the plague in fact, and when they did meet he was astonishingly polite, in his way.

January, February, March, April, and finally June passed by quickly. School ended in a rush, people all running around saying last minute good-byes to friends and looking for their lost belongings. Amanda was glad she wouldn't be taking the train home; the station was way too crowded.

Even though she wasn't taking the train, Amanda still found herself caught up in the hustle and bustle. Friends were shouting that she had better write and she was spun around and around by people shaking her hand or giving her hugs, saying things like 'Have a good summer!' 'See you next year!' and 'Try not to get into any trouble.' And suddenly she was not spinning, instead tall people surrounded her, slightly cut off from the rest of the commotion. It was her Slytherin group.

"Don't let them corrupt you; you make a good little thorn in Gryffindors side." Bellatrix squeezed the life out of her while saying this. Regulus pried the emotional girl off Amanda.

"Don't get in too much trouble, and try to grow before next year; you're too short." He said. Lucius laughed and agreed.

"Try not to become stupid over the summer."

"Thanks Lucius, I'll see what I can do," she said sarcastically.

Severus just chuckled and said, "See you around."

After that they all climbed aboard the train, leaving Amanda alone in the station to watch the train grow smaller and smaller before disappearing completely. The year was now officially over.

**Yeah I kind of sped through that year a bit. I hope no one minds, but I'm going to jump around a lot, that you can be sure of. Thanks again for the reviews. And I'll most likely put another chapter up after I get a few more.**


	7. Rocky start

The summer for Severus had gone the way it always had, with much screaming and yelling from his parents. He was glad to be back at school, easily able to slide back in with every one else with their normal lives, glad to be back with his friends, back with Lily, and even looking forward to seeing Amy again.

Amanda was probably even happier then him about the start of the year. For the past month she had been roaming empty halls, talking with the Bloody Baron and reading her textbooks. And while the Baron had been interesting to talk to, he didn't have much of a sense of humor. Plus, her and Peeves had worked out some great pranks to set off, but setting them off on Professors before there were other students to blame was a bad idea.

"Did you have a good summer, Amy?"

She paused to clap as another student got sorted before turning to Bill.

"It wasn't nearly as exciting as Hogwarts. How was yours?" Bills mouth twitched and he glanced at Charlie.

"Interesting." Amanda glanced at Charlie in confusion and Bill explained. "Charlie spoke very highly of you."

Charlie choked on his pumpkin juice, which went largely unnoticed as the others around them cheered for the newest Gryffindor addition.

"Bill!" he said exasperatedly. "I may have mentioned how good you were at Transfiguration."

Bills mouth twitched again and he looked mischievous.

"Not to mention Charms, Potions, Defense against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical creatures.

Amanda blushed as Charlie went beet red.

"I'm sure you're exaggerating, we didn't even have Care of Magical Creatures together." Bill chuckled.

"Perhaps, anyways, I hope to be seeing more of you in the future Amy." Charlie fought to control his blush by drinking large amounts of pumpkin juice, causing him to choke again. When he regained control of his lungs he turned back to Amanda, looking a bit nervous.

"Hey, um, I know it's a bit early, but I noticed that you stayed over break last year and I was wondering if you would like to come over to our house for Christmas break. Unless you were planning something already, or you know, just didn't want to." Amanda couldn't tease him, he just looked to nervous.

"Sure, I'd love to. I'll have to ask my mom of course, but hopefully she'll say yes."

Charlie beamed and Bill took the opportunity to tease him some more.

"See Charlie, I told you she'd say yes. All you had to do was spit it out."

"Shut up Bill!" Amanda laughed and dove into the feast, ignoring the brothers squabbling.

After the feast, full and happy, they all retired to their Gryffindor dormitories. Amanda said a sleepy hello and goodnight to her roommates, Alice Jennings and a girl named Shelby Roth. They replied just as sleepily before each of them drifted into sleep.

The next morning Amanda awoke early as was her custom and got ready without waking anyone else. She slipped out of the common room and passed the still sleeping Fat Lady. When the other students weren't around the curfews had ceased to apply and Amanda had been free to wander around as she pleased; now however, there were prefects wandering around to make sure she wasn't doing just that.

Amanda rounded a corner and relaxed, she was just a hallway away from the back entrance to the hall and Dumbledore had already said that she could join him for breakfast. Halfway down the hall however a voice stopped her.

"Didn't we go over this last year?" She turned around and smiled sweetly.

"I'm a slow learner."

"That's not what I hear." Amanda scowled.

"People should mind their own business."

"Why? You're everyone's favorite little know-it-all." She scowled again. "Peace, no ones been calling you a know-it-all, they just all agree that you're smart and have a sharp tongue." Amanda rolled her eyes and resumed walking, leaving Regulus to catch up.

"And you're still short," he said.

"I'm not short! You're just freakishly tall!"

Regulus chuckled.

"Midget. What are you doing up anyways?"

"I'm legal; Dumbledore said I could join him for breakfast." Regulus opened the door for her.

"Looks like you lucked out midget. See you around."

"Thanks for the escort." She waved to Regulus and then quickly found a seat next to Dumbledore and her mother.

"Good morning."

Professor McGonagall was obviously still asleep in her head; she waved rather haphazardly with her mug of coffee before replying.

"Good morning dear."

Amanda smothered a laugh and turned to Dumbledore.

"Good morning," he said. "It seems you're mother isn't completely awake yet. But, I was able to collect this from her sleepy arms," he said, holding out her schedule, "just in case you find yourself not in a position to accept it when they're handed out."

His eyes twinkled mischievously. She thanked him and they indulged in pleasant conversation until the other students had arrived. Amanda found Amelia and Amos and began comparing schedules with her Hufflepuff friends.

This year she had Transfiguration, Double Potions/ Herbology, lunch, History of Magic/ Care of Magical Creatures, Charms and Defense against the Dark Arts. Her midnight Astronomy class was now on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays. All her classes were still with the same houses as last year.

Amanda slipped easily into her routine from last year; she studied with her friends, and alternated between spending time with Carlisle, Gryis and Ash and studying on her own by the lake at night.

In the morning she ran back up to her dorm, showered and changed before racing off to Transfiguration. Her mother resumed praising her fellow classmates and criticizing her, even though Amanda preformed whatever task she was given to perfection.

Her and Severus worked on Potions or just talked in the evenings after dinner. Often they would speak of house elves or spells they had learned, anything that came to mind. But the outside world was never acknowledged, they never spoke of the growing war or their home lives, just the here and now, things that wouldn't even matter outside of school. They took refuge in each other and time passed quickly.

Almost the entire first half of the year passed without incident, excluding, of course, the periodic pranks from Peeves and the occasional failed potion from Steven. It wasn't until a night out playing with Gryis that Amada's day was shaken up a bit.

It was her own fault, really. She'd gotten so set in her routine that she'd forgotten about the dangers of the full moon.

A loud snap broke the temporary break in their playing, followed by a low growl. Without further warning something hurtled from the trees faster then Amanda could lower her instrument. Had Gryis not been there the creature would have dashed them off the side of the cliff to the rocks below.

Gryis reared up, flailing his hooves madly at the large werewolf and holding it at bay. It roared and jumped back.

Suddenly the werewolf found an opening and ran around and under Gryis's hooves, coming up right in front of Amanda. He snarled and jumped, but she was ready. She'd enchanted her violin to be made of stone again and she wielded it like a club, bashing him in the side of the face. The wolf dropped to all fours in pain but quickly tried to attack again. Gryis kicked out with his back legs, causing the wolf to scamper out of the way.

With a vicious growl a large black dog leapt out of the forest, closely followed by a huge stag. They flanked the wolf and pushed him back. The werewolf barred his teeth and growled ferociously, still facing Amanda. While the dog and stag distracted it Gryis threw her onto his back and ran, galloping away towards the castle.

They soon approached Hagrid's hut and Gryis let her down, making her promise to go inside. She had no choice but to spend the night in Hagrid's hut. Hagrid agreed to not mention the fact that she was out to anyone unless he was asked directly, and the next morning Amanda ran up to the castle as if nothing had happened, she had been stupid not to check the moon but there was nothing she could do about it now.

Remus kept staring at her the next day, he looked miserable. His hair was flat, his skin pale and gaunt, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Amanda snatched a little bacon from Regulus and then moved over to the Gryffindor table, settling in between Remus and James.

"Remus are you okay?"

He looked her over for a moment, his eyes lingering on a small scratch she'd gotten when Gryis had fled with her through the forest.

"Yeah," he mumbled, sounding rather sad and dejected.

"Come on Remus, you look horrible. I know _something's_ wrong, even if you don't want to tell me." She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. "Does this have anything to do with the Whomping Willow?"

His eyes widened and he gaped at her.

"How do you know about that?"

"Severus noticed. Look, I don't care what goes on down there; just take care of yourself okay?"

He smiled slightly and she hugged him.

"I have to go now, bye!" she called, running off to class and leaving a somewhat cheerier Remus behind.

Before she knew it Halloween had come and gone. Her and Peeves had made fake ghosts that would pop out of unexpected places; empty cauldrons, dresser drawers, statues of armor, even toilets. In a few days finals would be over winter break would begin, she was really looking forward to going over to the Weasley's, but she felt bad about leaving Severus alone for Christmas.

At the moment she was staring out at the grounds from a dormitory window; she had a wonderful view of the Whomping Willow from here. Earlier that day she'd seen Sirius talking to Severus and it worried her; Sirius had come away looking very smug and Severus wouldn't tell her what was going on. She'd heard the words 'Whomping Willow' so she had decided to keep an eye on it.

Amanda was trying to figure out what the Whomping Willow had to do with anything when she was brought back to Remus's poor health. He always seemed to be sickly, and even more so around the full moon. Her eyes shot open. _Duh!_ Remus was a werewolf. He was the werewolf that had attacked her, no wonder he'd looked so upset the next day! She felt so _stupid_ for not noticing before.

Down by the tree a movement drew her eye, Severus! She saw him approach the tree cautiously and then disappear. Amanda guessed that Remus normally transformed inside, and Sirius had sent Severus down there! She glanced up and saw that a full moon was indeed rising above the treetops.

Amanda raced down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room; it was empty except for Peter and James. She flung herself on top of James, even in near hysterics she didn't want to touch Peter.

"You bastard! He could _die_ down there! What were you thinking?" Potter managed to get the enraged second year off him.

"What _are_ you going on about?!?"

"How could you tell him to go to the Whomping Willow? Remus will kill him!" James had caught on and was just as frantic as Amanda was now.

"Who? Who's going to the Whomping Willow? How do you know?" Amanda realized that he didn't know and calmed down enough to speak.

"Severus, Sirius was talking to him and I heard him say something about the Whomping Willow and Sirius looked so smug when he walked away, I knew something was going on!"

James stood up.

"That's why he took my cloak!" he said. "Peter, go get Professor McGonagall and tell her what's going on."

James rushed out the door and Amanda followed. On the way James asked Amanda about how she knew it was Remus and how long she'd known.

"I figured it out that night in the forest, when I forgot to check the calendar. I'm guessing you're the stag."

"Yeah, what were you doing out there anyways?"

"I was practicing. Please don't tell, I never go alone and that's the first time I've gone out during the full moon."

"If you don't tell anyone about me, Peter, and Sirius being Animagus I won't."

"What's Peter?"

"A rat."

"He looks like one, no offense." Potter tried to laugh but was too winded from running.

"None taken, he does look like a rat."

"What cloak were you talking about back there?"

"I have an invisibility cloak," he said, "it's how we get around without getting caught."

They reached the Whomping Willow and James turned to Amanda.

"Stay here, I'll be back." Amanda gave him a look that was all too unwilling.

"You can stay here and argue with me or you can agree that I'm going with you and we can stop this before someone gets hurt," she said.

James hesitated for a moment but quickly gave in. He grabbed a stick and used it to poke a knot on the trees trunk. The tree froze and he quickly disappeared beneath its root, Amanda right behind him.

Inside the tunnel was small and dark, but eventually widened into a hallway.

"Are we in the shrieking shack?"

James nodded and walked ahead; they sped up and were just in time to see Severus open a door.

"Snape, stop!" James called.

But it was too late, the door was already open and the werewolf within jumped out. It lunged for the Slytherin in front of it but Amanda was faster.

"Impedimenta!" The werewolf flew backwards, unfortunately so did Severus. His head hit the corner of a wall and the last thing he saw was Amanda standing above him with her wand raised.

"Sirius!" James called out. "I know you're around here somewhere!" Sirius spilled out from the shadows.

"I would have stopped it before anything happened."

"Good job!" Amanda shouted sarcastically. Remus started to get up behind them and lunged. Sirius and James whipped around, trying to change before he could rip them to pieces.

"Impedimenta!" He flew back again. Sirius gaped at Amanda.

"Maybe next time you're head will be the thing that blows off you arrogant bastard!" Amanda was furious with him. James nudged Sirius and they both transformed and turned to face the rising werewolf.

They forced it back into the room, with much snarling and growling.

Sirius and James, back in their human forms, pushed at the door with all their might, straining to shove it closed and trap their deranged and snarling friend safely back inside. The building groaned under the stress caused by the enraged werewolf that was Remus and Amanda tried to back away, watching the groaning ceiling wearily.

With a final heave the door slammed shut and Sirius hastily pushed a heavy dresser in front of it, securing that they door was both locked and blockaded. He sighed dramatically and grinned at James, pushing a lock of hair behind his ear.

"Well that wasn't too hard."

And then, because some words have more power than the laws of physics themselves, the building groaned once more and a decrepit beam cracked, sending a solid pole of wood crashing down into Amanda before she could even scream. It pushed through her stomach as a hot knife would through butter, pinning her to the wall. She gasped, no longer having the breath to scream, and blood bubbled out of her mouth silently.

It was a horrible sight, there seemed to be more blood gushing from her stomach then someone as small as Amanda should be able to hold. Her face was rapidly losing what little color it had and the shocked expression had yet to leave her face. The boys rushed over and tried to pull the pole away but it was stuck fast in the wall. After a few tries James gave up and crowded around Amanda, panicking.

"Look, don't worry. Peter should be here any minute with Professor McGonagall. Just stay awake. Okay, Amy? Can you hear me? Just stay awake."

Amanda was losing her vision, everything was getting blurry and she was having problems breathing. It hurt so much. Her hands grasped loosely at the pole embedded into her flesh as she fought a losing battle to stay awake. Her head dropped and her body slumped as she lost consciousness.

Sirius and James were really panicking now, there was a lot of blood spilling out on the wall behind Amanda, and even more was coating her robes in the front. They bunched up her robes around her injury and tried to stop the bleeding.

"Go see what's taking them so long." James said.

Sirius raced down the hall and back onto the Hogwarts grounds, glad to leave the sight of the dying girl. To the panicking James it seemed like hours before he returned with Professor McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey and Dumbledore in tow though in reality only a few minutes had passed. Madame Pomfrey rushed over to where Amanda was pinned to the wall and James hurriedly scrambled out of the way.

Dumbledore looked grim as he surveyed the bloody scene before them, a slight edge of fear not quite hidden behind his half moon spectacles. Professor McGonagall stood stock still, staring in absolute horror at her unconscious daughter pinned to the wall.

"Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said, "please take these boys back to the castle, including Mr. Snape over there." McGonagall didn't move. "Minerva," he whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded jerkily and flicked her wand towards Severus before sweeping shakily from the room, trying not to look in Amanda's direction. Sirius and James followed her out, Severus floating along behind them. Dumbledore stepped towards the young nurse, gazing over her shoulder fearfully.

"Madame Pomfrey?"

"I don't know," the young nurse said anxiously, "she needs to get back to the castle… she's lost so much blood."

Dumbledore eyed the pole and quickly severed it just above were it was lodged into the young girls stomach. He lifted her into his arms and strode down the hall blood dripping down his robes. Her head lolled lifelessly on his shoulder.

When they reached the school Albus felt the small girl shift slightly and looked down. Her eyes were open and she was looking at him, blood spilling out of her mouth.

"Don't talk, you'll be alright," he said.

Her eyes remained open for a few more moments before rolling back into her head. Dumbledore felt his heart ache; her eyes had been filled with such trust at his words, and there was nothing he could do to help her. He felt blood seeping through his robes and sped up, long robes trailing behind. A few drops of blood landed on the stone floor, no doubt Filch would be highly irritated by the mess and grumble for days.

Professor McGonagall was waiting for them in the Hospital wing, her mouth set in a dismal line. Albus gently laid Amanda down on a bed and allowed Madame Pomfrey to shoo them both out. He'd never seen Professor McGonagall so white, or scared looking; she trembled, staring at the curtain that had been drawn around Amanda's bed.

"I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will sort it all out," he assured her. When she spoke her voice shook and came out strange and unnatural sounding.

"What were they all doing down there?"

Dumbledore sighed.

"There's only one way to find out."

She looked up and nodded before walking briskly from the room. Dumbledore glanced back at the curtain where Madame Pomfrey was working to save little Amy, he sighed again and followed McGonagall out. Praying that the young girl he had grown so fond of would be alright.

Severus awoke in a strange bed, in a place he was unfamiliar with. It took him a few moments to realize he was in the Hospital wing. Dumbledore was standing between him and the next bed over, and McGonagall was in a chair on Dumbledore's other side, their expressions were bleak. Dumbledore looked over at him.

"Ah, it's good to see you've awakened. How are you feeling?" he asked. Severus was confused.

"Better. Sir, what's going on? Who's that?"

He tried to lean over so he could see who was in the bed next to him. Dumbledore looked grave, he sat down on the edge of the bed but Severus still couldn't see who was behind the curtain.

"I believe you will recall going down to the Shrieking Shack on a dare made by Mr. Black," he started. "And then I'm sure you will recall opening a door to find a werewolf behind it." Severus nodded. "What was the last thing you remember?"

"The werewolf was knocked back and I hit my head on the wall. Amy had shot a spell at him…" His voice trailed off and he jumped off the bed and threw back the remaining curtains that hindered his view.

His worst fears were realized when he saw Amy lying on the white hospital bed, unmoving. Her skin looked clammy and cold, her complexion was ashen, and there were yellow circles around her eyes. She also seemed to be running a fever; a light sheen of sweat covered her face.

Severus walked around to the side of the bed not occupied by Professor McGonagall's form, she had fallen asleep holding her daughters hand. He hesitantly reached forward to brush a piece of hair from her face but quickly pulled back when she moaned a little. He turned around to face Dumbledore.

"How did this happen?" he whispered furiously. Once again the old man sighed, for a moment looking more ancient then ever.

"The building was unstable, when they forced Remus into the back room a pillar broke, freeing a pole that had been attached to the ceiling. The pole slid down and lodged in her stomach, going all the way through and pinning her to the wall."

"Why is she still injured?" he asked impatiently.

"When the pole hit the wall the wood splintered, sending slivers deep into her skin. Madame Pomfrey was unable to heal her while the splinters were inside and she'd lost far too much blood to pick them all out. We are going to have to let her wound heal a bit at a time and pick the splinters out when we can."

"And black?" Severus clenched his fists.

"He has been dealt with." Severus narrowed his eyes.

"But he hasn't been expelled? He almost killed me, and Amy could _still_ die! And what have you done about it, given him detention?" Severus was furious, no longer bothering to keep his voice down. Professor McGonagall raised her head.

"Either stop this yelling or go outside," she said crossly. Severus was about to leave when he saw movement from the corner of his eye and turned quickly back to Amanda. Her eyes fluttered open slowly.

"Hey." She didn't sound like herself; her voice was weak and scratchy. Her eyes wandered around the room before settling back on him. "Why does everyone look like someone just died?" Severus snorted.

"You stupid little second year, _you_ almost died."

"That explains a lot," she said. "Why were you yelling? Don't you know you're supposed to keep your voice down near the patients?" Severus shook his head.

"Don't you know how to move out of the way when something sharp is moving in your direction?"

"Obviously not. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. Any other stupid questions?"

Amanda grimaced as a fresh wave of pain enveloped her, making her miss his reply. She gasped and clenched at the sheets as the pain only intensified. Severus and her mother's faces swam before her eyes until she squeezed them shut, trying to block out the sharp pain that filled her body, feeling as if a thousand red hot pins were poking deep into her skin again and again.

She dimly heard Severus and her mother's voices, calling her name before she blacked out completely, thankful to escape the pain that had consumed her.

Severus stepped back, and with a last glance at the man he used to hold so much respect for, and the girl who had saved his life, stalked from the room.


	8. Catch up

More than three weeks passed before Amanda was able to return to her classes. Despite Madame Pomfrey's best efforts the splinter wounds became infected ad Amanda slipped in and out of a feverish sleep. Professor McGonagall had had to inform Charlie that Amanda wouldn't be able to spend Winter Break with his family and Charlie decided to stay over break and keep her company. Unfortunately Amanda spent most of that time unconscious, hardly even aware that she had a visitor.

Charlie's parents owled his presents to him and to her surprise owled one to her as well. Charlie had to open her presents for her as she was still too weak, and there were quit a few from various friends she had in other houses. It took them several hours to open them all because she kept falling back unconscious, safe under the watchful gaze of her friend.

Charlie spent most of his nights there as well, not wanting to leave his friend alone, even for a moment. Madame Pomfrey didn't bother running him out after she'd found them both asleep, Charlie's arms wrapped around her protectively. Even Professor McGonagall visited less then she normally would have after seeing how much time Charlie spent with her.

The first day Amanda was allowed out of the infirmary was a Friday; she'd been given the day off and wouldn't have class until Monday. She wondered down to Hagrids. He welcomed her back and attempted to press rock cakes on her, which she refused, saying she wasn't hungry. She played with Fang carefully until lunch when she left to find Remus.

She found him sitting by himself by the lake. Sirius, Peter and James were tickling the giant squid. Sirius and James stopped what they were doing when they saw her but she waved them off, signaling that she wanted to talk to Remus alone first.

Remus was facing away from the lake and Hagrids hut and so didn't know she was behind him until she sat down beside him. He gaped and tried to speak but she didn't let him talk.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm sorry. You must –"

"Remus, do you really think this is you're fault?" she asked. "You're not the building, you didn't break the pillar, you didn't send me down there, and you didn't tell Severus to go down there either."

He still looked miserable.

"_No_ _one_ would have gone down there if it hadn't been for me."

"If it hadn't been for the werewolf that bit you there wouldn't have been a reason for anyone to go there. But you _were_ bitten, and we _did_ go down there, and a _building_ tried to kill me. Its still not you're fault."

Remus smiled a little.

"So you're not afraid?"

"Well I defiantly wouldn't want to be around you during the full moon, but other then that we're good."

She reached over and gave him a hug. Remus hugged her back firmly.

"For a twelve year old you're very accepting."

She laughed.

"I think it comes of spending time around Dumbledore," she said. "But you didn't tell me if you were okay."

"I'm a lot better now," he said. James and Sirius walked over, followed by Peter. James nudged Sirius in the arm and he glared.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Just Severus?" He didn't answer and she knew it was true.

"Are you alright Amy?" James asked.

"Yeah," she nodded.

After that Remus and the others had to leave to get back to their classes and Amanda decided to spend some time on her cliff above the lake. She hadn't sat there long when Carlisle stepped out of the forest and nuzzled her arm.

**It is good to see you Amanda. It's been a long time.**

"Sorry about that, I've been in the hospital wing."

**Have you been injured?**

Amanda explained about what had happened in the Shrieking Shack and how the pole had driven into her stomach.

**You knew what was down there and yet you still went in?**

"Of course, my friend was down there."

**It seems that this Severus Snape is a person you truly care for.**

"He's a good person." She looked away. "I just fear that he may lose himself and no one will be able to help him then." Amanda felt tired after that and they took a small nap. Soon enough Amanda had to return to the castle for dinner. She took her usual place between Charlie and Bill.

"Amy, it's good to have you back. I'm sorry you did not get to enjoy the winter break with us, you were missed," Bill said by way of greeting.

"Thank you Bill." She turned to Charlie. "Thanks for staying with me in the hospital wing, even when I wasn't awake, I still appreciate it. And I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you're family over the break."

"I'm just glad you're feeling better," he assured.

Charlie filled Amanda in on all she had missed while she'd been gone and they were soon talking as if she hadn't just spent three weeks in the hospital wing. After dinner Amanda went in search of Severus.

She found him in the back of the library. He seemed pretty engrossed in what he was reading so she put a hand on his arm to get his attention. Severus flinched in pain and moved his arm, glaring up at her until he realized who it was. Amanda narrowed her eyes and quickly pulled his sleeve up before he could stop her.

On his arm, black and angry looking was the dark mark. She let his sleeve drop and sighed angrily.

"Did I miss anything else while I was gone? Get any other tattoos? Have you got a baby somewhere I should be aware of?"

He just watched as she paced angrily. Amanda fell to the ground next to him and sighed.

"I hope you know what you're doing." She leaned back against the shelf behind her and closed her eyes. Severus looked at her concerned.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm just tired, a lot."

He placed a hand on her forehead, she had a slight fever. Amanda took his hand, placing it in her lap and rubbing his fingers absently. Her eyes glazed over and Severus realized she was deep in thought.

"Amy?"

"Don't be offended, but I don't think you did know what you were doing. I think you were let down by something and you turned to the person who seemed to be in the most control, in this case Voldemort." Severus hissed at the use of the Dark Lords name.

"And what would you know of me?" he sneered. She just looked at him calmly.

"I know you wouldn't be sneering if I wasn't close, if I was wrong then you would have said something sarcastic or laughed." She stood up letting go off his hand. "But you'll be alright I think. You're smart, and a good person, even if you don't know it. I'm going to bed, good night Severus." He sat there in shock for a few moments.

"Good night, Amy," he said. With that Amanda returned to her dormitory and fell into a fitful sleep.

Over the next couple of days life returned to the way it had been before, as if nothing had ever happened. That was one of the good things about Hogwarts, it didn't change much. In fact, nothing really changed at all until mid-March.

Finals were coming up and the fifth through seventh years were starting to panic. Fifth and seventh years had O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, and the teachers were piling homework on all three years in preparation. The older students were starting to get testy, they were finding it hard to study and do their homework and sleep. Even Lucius, who prided himself on keeping his cool, was starting to feel the strain.

Amanda found him in the library, or rather, he found her. He'd gotten angry and thrown a book over a shelf, which just so happened to have Amanda on the other side of it.

"You know," she said, walking up to him with the book in one hand and rubbing her head with the other. "I find that keeping the book open and in one place makes it easier to study."

Lucius scowled.

"It's an unhelpful book! There is nothing about moonstones and their proper use in potions in it!"

Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"Have you tried looking in your textbook? It's got a whole chapter about it."

"And how would you know?" he sneered.

"Obviously I read the book, you should try it. Come on," she said, "let me see your paper."

Lucius thrust the paper he'd been writing at her moodily and Amanda took his quill, reading over the paper quickly. She crossed out sentences and wrote in the margins, using arrows to show where things should go and what to get rid of.

"There," she said, handing the paper back, "now at least you won't sound too stupid."

Lucius snatched the paper back, reading over her revisions. Eventually he set it down and pulled out fresh parchment, saying, "Thanks," grudgingly.

"No thanks necessary, you owe me."

"What do you want?"

"I'll think of something," she said, smiling brightly.

She really had no idea what she wanted but it wouldn't hurt to have Lucius owe her one, just in case.

Lucius must have gotten a good grade on the paper she'd helped him with because soon enough he was coming to her for help on his other assignments as well, and then she had other people coming to her for help with their spell work, it seemed that word had gotten around about her near perfect grades.

They would have been perfect too, had it not been for Transfiguration. No matter how much effort she put into her Transfiguration work there always seemed to be something wrong with it. At one point Amanda found herself in Dumbledore's office after dinner working on her Transfiguration paper and asking him for his help.

"What about this?" Dumbledore said, handing her back her paper.

Amanda looked over it and crossed out a few things, moving them around and adding a line or two, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Well," Dumbledore said, "this is certainly better then anything I ever turned in, I think some of our seventh years would like to get a hold of this. Why don't you head off to bed, it's getting late."

She looked up at him doubtfully but gathered her stuff anyways. She had no doubt that Dumbledore was joking, but it made her feel better anyways, she had high hopes for this assignment. If Dumbledore said it would get top grades then it had to be good.

It seemed her mother disagreed. A few days later Amanda got her paper back, it had just as many marks on it as usual.

"Isn't that the paper you had Dumbledore help you with?" Charlie asked, having leaned over to get a better look.

Amanda sighed and put the paper labeled as 'Acceptable' in her bag.

"Yes."

"You worked for weeks on that thing!"

"Yes."

"Even I got an 'Exceeds Expectations,' and the half wits over there," he pointed at Crab and Goyle, "both pulled off 'Acceptable,' and Goyle didn't even spell his name right!"

"Yes, Charlie!" she said, just wanting him to stop pointing out just how much of a failure she was. "I know!"

"It's not fair," he said quietly.

"Life isn't," she said simply, standing up as the bell signaled the end of class. "I'll just have to work harder next time."

Amanda ran out quickly, racing down to the dungeons for Potions, something she was good at. She enjoyed Potions, sitting between Steven and Charlie, and quickly became so absorbed by the simmering cauldrons that she was able to forget her lousy Transfiguration paper.

After Potions ended Amanda decided to wander around for awhile instead of going to lunch, she wasn't feeling hungry. Amanda rounded a corner and collided with something solid. A hand shot out and grabbed her arm, keeping her from falling painfully to the ground.

"Are you alright?" asked the person, she recognized the voice of Dumbledore.

"Yes, thank you," she said, looking up at the twinkling eyes of Dumbledore. "Sorry I ran into you."

"It's quite all right," he assured. "Did you, by any chance, get that paper back yet?"

"Yes," Amanda said simply, not really wanting to share her latest failure.

Dumbledore waited a moment for her to continue before continuing on when it became apparent that she wasn't going to say anything. "Did you receive 'Outstanding'?"

"No," Amanda said, reaching for the paper reluctantly. "It seems mom doesn't much care for your style of writing."

Dumbledore looked down at the paper with raised eyebrows, reading over the comments left by her mother.

"I worked hard on this," he said, looking affronted by the low grade it had received.

"You?" Amanda said incredulously, "I worked on that for weeks! You only had it for a few hours."

"Ah, but a lot can happen in a short amount of time."

"Obviously not enough," she said sourly.

"Do you mind if I borrow this?"

"You are not going to go talk to her about it," Amanda said firmly, taking the paper back out of his hands.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because if you talk to her and she raises the grade it will be because you asked her to, not because I earned it."

"You have earned it," he said earnestly, "this is an amazing paper –"

"Obviously not," Amanda said flatly. "I'll just have to do better next time. Don't talk to her," she added firmly.

"If that is what you want."

Dumbledore kept his word, and over the next few weeks Amanda continued to get average grades for her Transfiguration work. She got into a new routine of spending a few hours everyday in the library, where other students who weren't understanding their work would ask her question or have her show them how to perform a spell, she flat out refused to do the work for them, however. Amanda liked it though, it let her see what was being taught in the coming years and she learned a lot of new spells, not to mention made a lot of new friends.

Amanda managed to get a hold of several books from the restricted section by pulling in some of her favors with the older students and spent a lot of time in empty classrooms, away from the prying eyes of teachers who wouldn't approve of her having the restricted books.

**And there it is, sorry this was kin of a boring chapter, but they can't all almost kill Amy, she'd turn into a walking miracle. Anyways, I'm not posting another chapter until I get a view reviews (I know, I'm so mean)**


	9. More Catch Up and Fast Forward

Severus stormed into the classroom Amanda had been studying in one afternoon after mid-terms. His robes were disarrayed and his hair was a mess.

"What happened?"

"What do you think?" he shouted angrily.

Amanda just marked her page and set down her book, waiting for him to calm down.

"If that were all that happened you wouldn't be storming in here."

He paced back and forth for a few minutes while Amanda watched, curious. Eventually he sighed and slumped down against a wall, groaning.

"I really did it this time; I called her a mud-blood," he said. Amanda walked over and knelt in front of him.

"Have you tried to apologize? I'm sure she'll forgive you."

"She won't talk to me." He looked up, suddenly struck by an idea. "Can you talk to her?"

Amanda looked apologetic.

"I don't think that would work," she said.

"Why not? You talked to her before."

He sounded desperate.

"It's not the same Severus. She needs to hear this from you, it wouldn't mean anything if I said it for you."

"And what would you know about it? You're just a stupid little second year!"

Amanda sighed and sat next to him, pulling him into her arms and rocking them back and forth, a hurt look hidden from view by her curtain of hair.

"You don't mean that," she whispered.

"What do you know about me?" he asked, pushing her away.

She ignored his hands and wrapped her own arms around his shoulder again, embracing him in a warm hug. After a few minutes Amanda sighed and got up.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go now, curfew and all that."

"That's never stopped you before," he said sourly.

"You just need to think for awhile and the longer I stick around the longer you'll distract yourself from doing what you need to do." Amanda left him to think. After a few minutes Severus picked himself up, he had made his decision.

Amanda was reading in the common room, it was a full moon so she was stuck inside for the night. She overheard something that made her look up though. It sounded like an argument between Lily and one of her friends.

"He's just standing out there."

"I'm not going to talk to him!" Lily shouted. Amanda glanced at the clock, it was well after midnight. She peered through the port hole and indeed, Severus was standing outside, waiting for Lily.

Amanda rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand, preparing to confront Lily. It wasn't fair to just leave him out there all night, no matter what he had said. She opened the door to Lily's room, pleased to find her there alone. She grabbed Lily's wand and pointed her own wand into the astonished girls face.

"Look, I don't care if you forgive him, I don't even care if you beat him over the head with a fish. But he can not stay out there waiting for you and you _are_ going to talk to him." Lily looked shocked, but got up anyways. She glared as she walked down to the common room, with Amanda right behind her, and exited through the port hole. Amanda went to her room to read, she really didn't want to have to argue with Lily when she got done talking to Severus.

While this might seem like it would have made a large impact in life at Hogwarts it really didn't. Lily and Severus stopped being friends, and so Severus became even angrier at James because of his closeness to her and seemed a little darker and crueler to most people. Other then that life continued much as it had before.

In fact, that year ended and the next two passed without incident. Bill became Head Boy her third year and then got all twelve of his N.E.W.T.S. before graduating, there had been a three day party at the Weasley house after that, Bill was their first child to graduate.

The following year Severus scored well in all of his classes and then he and the Slytherin group also left Hogwarts, all of them joining the Dark lord. With them went James, who married Lily shortly after, Peter, Sirius and Remus. Crab and Goyle dropped out that same year.

Lily and James had a beautiful wedding that summer. Amanda was invited but she left early after getting into a fight with Sirius, it had been obvious that they wouldn't be able to both stay and since Sirius was closer to James and Lily she had decided to leave. When she'd heard the news that Sirius had betrayed them to Voldemort, however, she couldn't believe it, she may despise Black most of the time but she knew he couldn't have betrayed his best friend.

She continued to make friends in the other houses and started to hang out in their common rooms more and more often. When she ran out of books to read she would invent pranks to play around the school, sometimes accompanied by others and sometimes alone. It got to the point that a week couldn't go by without her and some of her friends pranking the school.

Amanda herself became a prefect her fifth year, something Charlie and most of the rest of the school population found hilarious, it was hard to imagine someone who bended the rules so often enforcing them but she did, people sneaking around at night had to be a lot more crafty since Amanda knew the school like the back of her hand. She tried to refuse being Prefect, saying she didn't deserve such a thing, but Dumbledore had just laughed and thrown the badge back to her. Being Prefect made no difference to the number of pranks that went on, however, Amanda really just put a stop to the fighting and bullying that went on.

Apparently that was enough because they made her Head Girl, with Steven becoming Head Boy. Charlie laughed so hard when he'd seen the badge that he'd squirted milk out of his nose. Amanda then hexed his legs so they danced and stormed out of the room.

On top of the pranks and patrolling the halls for misbehaving students she also took all the available classes she could, getting top grades in each. She did drop Potions, however, because there was nothing more Professor Slughorn could teach her, but arranged to take the O.W.L for it just in case she decided she wanted to take it her sixth or seventh year. It proved to be a wise decision because Amanda found that she did indeed want to take Potions again in her seventh year.

Severus sighed in irritation; this would be his first year teaching. He tried to tune out the noises of the overcrowded Great Hall as the start of year feast commenced. Dumbledore had introduced him, along with the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrel. Severus didn't talk to anyone and stalked quickly down to his dungeons as soon the feast ended and slipped into a sleep filled with nightmares.

The next day he found that the students had actually gotten dumber since he'd gone to school. His first three classes were the most disappointing. He had a class of first year Gryffindors and Slytherins, a second year class of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and a sixth year class of Slytherins and Ravenclaws. He had easily intimidated all three classes into obedience. Next he would be teaching a class of advanced students, a mixture from all the houses. Hopefully they, at least, would know what they were doing.

Severus hadn't had time to go over the class list and so he paid extra close attention to the students as they entered his class. He only had seven students in this class, and every one of them entered quietly, and nearly every one was a Ravenclaw. They'd all been students when he'd gone top school, but they wouldn't remember him and he didn't really recognize any of them.

He stood up in front of his desk.

"If you've come this far then I expect that I don't have to tell you how to behave. Get to work."

He flicked his wand at the board and instructions and page numbers appeared. The students obediently pulled out their books and turned to the appropriate page. Almost immediately a student walked over to the ingredients cabinet to collect their supplies. Snape almost growled in irritation, some overconfident fool who thought they could just glance at the instructions before making their potion. His irritation turned to surprise when he noticed who it was.

She was taller, curvier, and her hair was longer; it was roped into a braid that trailed down and swung just past her hips when she walked. Her skin was paler then it used to be and she still had that hidden look of exhaustion about her. Who else but Amy?

"Miss McGonagall," he growled, "a word if you don't mind."

She turned around, a slight scowl on her face before walking up to him. He was rather surprised to see the shiny Head Girl badge attached to her robes. Amanda's voice was polite and slightly curious, the same voice she used with any other professor.

"Yes, Professor?"

Severus pulled out a file on his desk.

"It says here you've already taken this class, and that you dropped Potions last year. Why are you picking it back up this year?" he asked.

"Slughorn had nothing left to teach me. You're already further in the book then Slughorn took us so I'm guessing you do have more to teach."

He snorted.

"Cheek, Miss McGonagall, is not appreciated. Go sit down. And actually read the instructions before you get you're materials."

"I have read them," she said, adopting a tone that could _only_ be described as cheeky, "You already taught me this potion."

She turned around with a smug smile and walked back to her desk to begin her potion.

Amanda was glad Severus was back, with the ending of the war she had really started to worry about him. He hadn't been in any of the papers she'd seen and Dumbledore had simply said that he was alive. She'd noticed that Dumbledore became very grave when speaking of Severus and that had scared her, what had happened to him? Amanda pushed the thoughts of her old friends past out of her head and got to work.

Steven and Amanda were still in Potions together, she'd taught him what Severus had taught her. Steven would never be an expert at Potions, he just didn't have the concentration or eye for detail required, but he had fun with it and had decided to return when Amanda had. They didn't speak, they'd heard from other classes that Snape wouldn't tolerate it, so they merely sat together and enjoyed the simmering sound of their potions.

Snape walked around the room, dishing out criticism where he could find it. He didn't complement anyone at all, and the only way one could tell they were doing it right was if he just passed by without a second glance.

Poor Steven was criticized heavily; he was clumsy and often added the wrong amounts of ingredients to his work. When Snape walked by he became even more nervous and more jumpy. Amanda shot him a sympathetic glance as she bottled up her finished potion.

"There is no way that child got this far without any help." Severus said when she was close enough to his desk said, eyeing her with suspicion and glancing back at Steven, who was checking his ingredient vials, looking for one he'd forgotten to get. Amanda winced.

"He's really good at the written part." Severus continued to eye her skeptically and she looked a bit sheepish. "And I tutored him a little. But I never touch his potions." Steven's potion began to fizzle behind her.

"That's probably a wise move at this point."

Amanda flinched and walked over to the ingredients cabinet, selecting both the one Steven had needed and the ones he would need to fix his potion. She set them down on his desk and he looked up at her, gratitude shinning in his eyes.

"Thanks, I got a bit nervous and put too much in," he said gratefully. Amanda leaned forward and picked up the offending bottle.

"Too much of an ingredient you didn't need."

He grimaced and she rolled her eyes. Steven was just like that, he always messed things up in this class, but he still always passed.

Steven managed to finish his potion just before the bell rang and Amanda stayed behind with him to help clean up his area. She couldn't help but laugh when he tripped on his way up to Severus's desk. Amanda filled a new vile and carried it up for him before flicking her wand and repairing the old one. Steven stuck his tongue out at her.

"You just can't help showing me up, can you, Amy?" His tone was mocking and she laughed.

"You make it so easy, I can't help myself."

They laughed and ran out of the room.

"Good bye Professor Snape! Don't get too angry your first day!" Amanda called back.

Severus snorted at the pair, they were still such children. But then, Amy had been rather grown up for a child maybe that was just the way she was.

Amanda raced Steven to his next class before going up to Dumbledore's office. When he'd learned that she'd read most of the books in the library he'd granted her access to his private library. She preferred his study to the restricted section of the library, it was much more comfortable.

Amanda really didn't have that many classes this year; she'd taken most of the available ones already. This year she only had Advanced Potions and Advanced Transfiguration. Her mother had frowned when she'd suggested dropping Transfiguration so she'd kept it.

Dumbledore was reading in his study when Amanda entered.

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore. What are you reading?"

"Good morning, Amy. It's about a group of companions that are thrust into a quest to bring about the stabilization of their world. It's quite amusing at parts," he said excitedly, still engrossed in his book.

"Sounds interesting, I didn't know you liked to read fantasy."

"Oh yes, it's very entertaining." Dumbledore seemed very withdrawn into his book so Amanda left him alone and searched for a book of her own. Fawkes flew down and lighted on her shoulder, crooning softly, another bonus to studying in Dumbledore's office vs. the library.

Fawkes was amazingly light, considering he was the size of a swan at the moment. He settled down in her lap, his long tail still twitching on her shoulder. Perhaps it was just because of Fawkes, but a phoenix seemed to be the perfect companion for a wizard or witch, they were loyal, brave, smart, not to mention their healing abilities.

After awhile Dumbledore left, saying he had to make his rounds. She hardly noticed, already absorbed into her book, absently stroking Fawkes the whole time. Several hours passed before he returned to remind her about dinner.

Amanda slid in next to Charlie, surprising him. She rarely sat at Gryffindor anymore, she just didn't see the point, and besides, nowhere in the rules did it say she couldn't sit at a different table.

"I trust you had a good first day," she said. Charlie had grown taller and more masculine over the years. His hair was longer then most and he had a handsome face that was currently twisted into a scowl.

"We got loads of homework already! It's like their preparing us for O.W.L.s again."

"N.E.W.T.s this year, of course the work load is going to double." Charlie scowled again.

"It's all right for you, you've always stayed up all night doing homework and studying. The rest of us _need_ our sleep!" He paused to glare at his soup. "Anyways, mum says 'Hi.' And of course you're invited over for Christmas again," he continued.

"Cool, I'll try to be there."

Amanda had gone over to the Weasley's every year she could, he had a great family. The only way to describe Charlie's mother was to say that she was a kind motherly type of person. Amanda felt that she wouldn't only have two children for long, it didn't suit her. Charlie's father was a little excitable when it came to muggles, but he was laid back most of the time and welcomed Amanda into the family without a second thought. She had introduced him to Steven and they thrived on each other, answering questions the other had about their respective worlds.

"Great, it's always more fun when you're there. Watch it though, mum gone a bit touchy, hormones and all that. Personally I think it's a bit late to be having another child, I mean really. I won't even be able to see how the kid does in school."

"Only you would be upset that because you wouldn't be able to play with the kid. Congratulate her for me will you?" They continued on talking for the rest of dinner and separated at the doors.

"Don't get in trouble," he warned as always.

"Why not, you'll just earn all those lost points back in the first Quidditch game. Besides, I never get caught now that Regulus is gone." Charlie just waved her off. Amanda headed out the castle onto the grounds. Seeing the lake and the forest made her feel like she was home. Because Hogwarts _was_ her home, and she was glad to be back.

Severus found that the only class that he could stand was his Advanced Potions class. The students behaved, and aside from Mr. Quirke made few mistakes. Amy was by far his best student, and accomplished everything he sent her way. After working with foolish first years and even dumber sixth years, Severus relished the chance to work with students who knew what they were doing. He often just put together a list of potions and let each student pick whichever one they wanted to make, there were so few of them it was easy to watch for mistakes.

A mysterious prankster that hadn't been around when he was in school managed to disrupt the schools efficient running and keep teachers on their toes. He learned that the prankster had been around for a few years but they could never figure out who it was, or even what house they belonged to. Bubble floated up from goblets, windows started shouting out the weather or Quidditch scores to passerbies and the floors started to vanish unexpectedly, scaring some of the younger students. The pranks always stopped outside of classrooms and were only a minor inconvenience, but the magic used to make them was flawless. It would sometimes take hours and several different teachers to figure out how to remove a spell, giving the students plenty of time to thoroughly enjoy them.

Halfway through September the day came where everyone awoke in costumes and masks. The whole day became a sort of twisted masquerade. Except, as always, in the classroom where the costumes would vanish just outside the door. Severus elected to stay in his class the whole day.

Amanda was one of the few people who managed to change his routine in a way that didn't make him want to strangle the entire student population. He'd walked into the Slytherin common room one night, just to make sure everything was alright and there she was. Amanda was sitting with a group of his students working on homework and laughing at some joke that had just been said. One of the students looked up and noticed him standing there and quickly nudged the boy next to him, the table fell silent as they realized he was there.

"Get to bed," he said, "now."

They gathered their things and walked in a bunch, trying to shield Amanda from his view, but it was no use.

"Miss McGonagall, I wasn't aware you were a Slytherin now," he said.

She sighed and turned around, pushing through the Slytherins and walking back down the stairs.

"I thought I'd give it a test drive," she said.

"Out."

He led her down out into the hallway and up to her dormitory.

"Do I want to know why you were in the Slytherin common room after curfew?"

"I'm sure you do," she said brightly, "you seem like the kind of person who would want to know everything."

"Ten points from Gryffindor because of your cheek. Now, why were you not in your dormitory."

"We always study in the Slytherin common room on Tuesdays," she said, shrugging. "No one has Quidditch practice so it's most convenient. And before you decide to punish me or something it doesn't say anywhere in the rules that I can't go into anyone else's common room."

"But you were out after curfew. And _that_ is covered quite clearly in the rules. How you made Head Girl I'll never know."

"You've got me there, I tried to refuse but Dumbledore just laughed, as did the rest of the school," she said, grimacing a bit. "So then, points from Gryffindor or detention?"

"I should inform your head of house," he said. That was one of the only punishments that Amanda seemed to truly care about.

She didn't say anything and stared straight ahead as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Verto Ledo," she said quietly. "You'll find her in her office."

"You keep tabs on your mother?" he asked disbelievingly. He almost missed her reply, for it hadn't been meant for him to hear.

"Always," she whispered.

She stepped up into the porthole.

"She can stay there. Go to bed," he said firmly. Amanda paused and turned around to face him.

"Thank you," she said genuinely and turned back inside. "Good night, Severus," she called back.

He rolled his eyes and watched her disappear into the Gryffindor common room, the portrait closing behind her.

"Good night, Amy."

**What do you think so far?**


	10. Why We Are

"You're late Miss McGonagall," he sneered, striding right up to her desk to look down his long nose at her.

It had been a long day; he'd been working with stupid third years and even stupider sixth years, and she had the audacity to be late to his class?

"Yes sir," she said simply, keeping her head down.

"I would think that having so few classes would make it easier to remember what time they started, perhaps I overestimated you." She bristled but didn't respond, he wanted her to. He needed to vent his anger and she had given him the perfect opportunity. "Very well then," he drawled when, still, the girl remained silent. "I suppose I'll have to take twenty points from Gryffindor. And perhaps have a word with Dumbledore about a replacement Head Girl."

"As you wish," she muttered, still looking infuriatingly down at her lap.

He scowled and turned, snapping back at them all over his shoulder, "Get back to work."

From his desk Severus watched Amanda ignore Steven and get started on a potion he knew to be to easy for her.

The silence in the room only lasted for a few minutes before someone banged on the door and a little Ravenclaw poked his head in, a nervous expression on his face.

"What?" Severus barked, when it became apparent the boy was too frightened to speak.

"Please, sir, they want you in the hospital wing, along with Amy," he added, pointing at her as if Severus had no idea who his student was.

Amanda was already on her way out, having started to pack up as soon as the boy so loudly banged on the door.

"There will be no need to talk," he growled, before following her out the door. "I take it you know whats going on?" he asked, when they were well away from the class.

"I have a pretty good idea," she mumbled.

Severus looked at her for the first time that day, finally noticing that her robes were hanging off her haphazardly and they were ripped in a few places. He grabbed her chin and forced her to stop walking and look at him. Her right eye was swollen and her lip was cut.

"You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"

"Apparently not," she replied, as they started walking again.

"What happened?"

"I decided to hit a fist with my face," she said acidly.

"Why?"

"Because it seemed like a good idea at the time, _duh_. Seriously, I'm not going to tell you, so why don't you just wait until we get there."

Severus scowled again but fell silent until they got to the hospital wing. Inside waiting for them were Professors Beery, and McGonagall, along with six Gryffindor students, a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin.

Five of the Gryffindors were standing in a group, glaring at the others, with numerous boils and pustules sprouting out on the visible parts of their body. They looked pretty beat up, their robes were torn and several of them sported black eyes, and in one kids case a broken nose.

The remaining Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin were glaring just as fiercely back at the group, and it was to them that Amanda went to stand by. None of them looked nearly as bad as the others, out of them Amanda looked the worst and she was fine.

"May I ask what has been going on?"

McGonagall, who looked furious with her fists shaking by her side and her lips pressed into a thin line, answered him in a very tight voice, "I don't know exactly, they refuse to speak."

The students, if they had heard her at all, didn't react. They just kept glaring at each other while they waited in silence.

"Minerva, Severus," said the cheerful voice of Dumbledore. "Professor Beery, might I ask why I have been summoned?"

"If they were talking I would tell you," said Minerva quietly, "but as it is…"

As one the nine students in front of them looked down, wearing identical guilty expressions, but none of them said a word.

"We got into an argument and things got a little out of hand," muttered one of the Gryffindors.

"A little!" shouted Amos, "you punched her!"

"She started it," muttered one of the Gryffindor group.

"Oh really?" said the Gryffindor standing next to Amanda, Charlie. "Because I seem to remember you were the ones that couldn't keep your mouths shut!"

"She was asking for it!"

"Oh, so Amy _asked_ you to punch her, is that it?" said Charlie.

"Enough!" shouted Minerva. She rounded on the Gryffindor who had been accused of punching Amanda. "And what, dare I ask, made you think it was a good idea to start a brawl in the middle of the hallway?"

The Gryffindor glared murderously at Amanda but didn't answer.

"It wasn't their fault," Amanda said suddenly, speaking for the first time and gesturing to the group around her. "I got myself into trouble and these guys were just trying to help."

"Mr. Diggory?" questioned Beery, speaking for the first time.

Amos looked down at his feet.

"I don't actually know, I just saw him punch Amy and then I saw Charlie push him off her. I was just trying to even the odds a bit, five on two didn't seem very fair."

"And you?" Severus asked the Slytherin boy.

"Donno, I just saw him," he nodded at the Gryffindor identified as being the one to throw the first punch, "attack and thought it didn't seem fair. Like Amos said."

"It seems to me that we ought to be asking what was said to make the boy attack Miss McGonagall like that."

Amanda lifted her head to look them all in the eye.

"I called him stupid, questioned his gender, and told him he belonged in a zoo and that we should let the pig he replaces fill his spot in here, because I'm sure it would smell much better then he did. I guess he couldn't take it because a moment later there was a fist in my eye."

Her voice was calm but he knew better, on the inside Amanda was terrified.

"Why you little –" The Gryffindor started.

"Allow me to tell you where you went wrong," she said icily, somehow managing to look down at him even though she was a good head taller then the boy. "_I_ can repeat everything I said up to where you punched me, but _you_, you who went to the teachers, you can't, can you?"

She had nailed it. The Gryffindor boy was helpless under her superior gaze, she was right, she had won, and he was a fool. The boys around Amanda looked smug and Charlie smiled widely.

"Very well then," said Severus, it was clear to him that this was going no further, and even though he was dying to know what the boy had said, he had better things to do. "Mr. Gregory you will serve detention with me tomorrow night, now I suggest you get to you next class."

He followed the Slytherin out, leaving them to their own devices.

The rest of the punishments were divvied out after he had left. Mr. Beery said that he would be writing to Amos's parents but that was all, he knew Amos had had his heart in the right place. Professor McGonagall was a lot harsher; she gave each of the boys, including Charlie, a weekend of detention and took twenty points from each. She then took Amanda up to her office to speak with her privately.

Throughout the whole speech Amanda kept her head down and said not a word, she had learned long ago that it made no difference. Until her mother told her what her punishment would be.

"You will spend every evening of the next two weeks with Mr. Filch, doing whatever task he needs done, and you will no longer be allowed to leave the castle for Hogsmeade weekends."

"You only gave the others two days!" she exclaimed.

"I fit the punishment to the person."

"But that's not fair!" Amanda protested.

"Life's not fair," McGonagall said primly, "a fact that you should be well aware of."

"But _you're_ supposed to be, that's your _job_!"

Minerva raised an eyebrow at her and Amanda deflated a bit, simmering down.

"Are you a teacher?"

"No."

"Then you are, perhaps, Headmistress?"

"No."

"Then what may I ask makes you think you are qualified to tell me what my job is? I am _your_ mother, not the other way around, and my word is _final_! I give you harsher punishments because nothing sees to get through to you! You are constantly breaking the rules, and it is an embarrassment to your house, to you, and to me.

"And furthermore, if you continue to embarrass in this way I shall be forced to remove you from this school! Is that clear?"

But Amanda didn't answer. She ran to the door with tears springing up in her eyes and wrenched it open, coming face to face with Severus. She pushed roughly passed him and ran away as fast as she could, trying to get away before her mother could call her back in.

The following weeks seemed to suck the life out of Amanda. She obeyed all the rules; she sat at the proper table for each meal, she came and left at the same time as everyone else, and after her detentions with Filch Amanda went up to her dormitory and closed the curtains around her bed and spent each night studying until her eyes hurt and then just lying as quietly as possible.

Gone was the laughing prankster who had united the houses with her quick wit and charming smile. Instead they were left with a shell of a girl, one who rarely talked and kept her head down.

Potions became the only part of the day Amanda could relax. All she ever had to worry about was Steven and his Potions.

"Which one is the –"

"The brown one," Amanda murmured, not caring enough to look up.

Her potion was finished, she just needed to let it simmer for awhile so Amanda closed her eyes and let her head fall on the desk.

Professor Snape was stalking around the room behind them, coming closer and closer to the already nervous Steven. With the Professor so close Steven couldn't ask Amanda about the ingredients so he had to go with his instincts, never a good idea for him.

Severus stood right in front of Amanda's desk, taking in her closed eyes and even breathing. She was obviously asleep. He picked one of her heavy textbooks from her bag and raised it high above the desk, his lip curling into a snarl before he let it crash to the table with a loud bang.

Amanda shot up in surprise, nearly jumping out of her seat.

"This is not your dormitory, Miss McGonagall, and you will not sleep in my class."

"Of course, sorry, I –"

Steven's potion exploded, knocking them both to the ground and landing in Amanda's potion; it started to simmer ominously behind them. Amanda climbed back into her seat just in time to be knocked off again by her own potion exploding.

"Miss McGonagall, are you alright?" Severus asked, glad the potions weren't anything dangerous, although with Mr. Quirk anything was possible.

Amanda held up her hands, preventing both him and Steven from approaching. She had a murderous look on her face, something none of them had ever seen on her kind face before. With a last vicious glare at the offending potions Amanda walked out, throwing the doors open carelessly as she went.

When Severus had finished berating the poor Ravenclaw Steven had cleaned up both of their potions and packed her bag. But Amanda never came back for it. Severus put the bag behind her desk but she didn't show up later either. He eventually had to go find her.

She was sitting under a tree by the lake, exactly where he'd thought she might be.

"Your friend is worried about you," he said, not really caring what Mr. Quirk was feeling.

Amanda shrugged.

"Have you been here all day?"

She nodded, once again mute. He sat down next to her.

"Will you say _something_?"

"Sorry," she whispered, "for leaving your class like that, I didn't want to yell at Steven, he didn't mean to do it."

"You seem to be having a bad couple of weeks," he said, hoping she would elaborate.

"Yeah," she said softly.

"I have a deal for you," he said, after waiting for a few minutes. "I will give you top marks for that potion Mr. Quirke exploded on you, and I will forgive you walking out of my class, if you answer a question for me."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like the question?"

He didn't answer, those were his terms, she could take it or leave.

"Alright, fine, ask away."

"The truth," he warned.

"I always tell the truth," she said, sounding offended, "I just leave things out periodically."

"Leave nothing out," he growled.

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell me why you run yourself to death studying, I know you don't care about your grades that much."

"That's a complicated story," she said.

"I knew that before I asked."

Amanda was silent for a long moment, as if deciding where to start.

"When I was little, and it was just me and mom, she never praised me, she just pushed for perfection. But that was okay, I thought that was just the way she was and I didn't care. But then I came here, and I saw her praising people that were doing so much worse then I was, and only criticizing me. No matter what I did she always found something wrong!

"I guess I'm selfish," she smiled grimly, "I needed to here her praise me, at least once. I decided that if there was absolutely nothing left to criticize she would have to say _something_, just a small something." Amanda looked unbearably sad for a moment.

"I'm sure she notices how good you are," he said, in a rough attempt to comfort her.

"Everybody notices, Severus."

It was true, both as a student and now as a teacher Severus had heard about Minerva's weird behavior in Amanda's transfiguration class. It had and still was the source of a lot of gossip around the school.

"You remember that fight a few weeks ago, where nobody would tell what the Gryffindors had said?"

He remembered.

"They were talking about me and her, about how she must really hate me and the fact that I was such a horrible daughter. They all say it, and normally I just ignore them, but he wouldn't stop. And I am so tired of it."

She suddenly got up and stalked to the lake, hunching her shoulders against the cold.

"Amy?"

"I'm tired of being pushed around because of how my mother treats me! I'm tired of half my house hating me! I'm so tired of Gryffindor! I'm tired of _being_ tired because I can't sleep, because I'm to busy studying, or practicing, or worrying about my grades! I'm tired of Her! I'm tired… of being an embarrassment." She whispered the last part, crouching down to wrap her arms around her knees and hug them to her chest.

"It's just –"

_Not fair? Life isn't fair._

"–Life." She finished quietly. "And there's nothing I can do about it."

"Come here Amy," he said, gesturing for her to sit back beside him.

She walked over slowly, looking as defeated as she had looked for the past couple of weeks.

"So what's your plan, just keep running yourself ragged until she either acknowledges you or you die?"

Amanda smiled softly.

"If that's what it takes."

"And what if neither happens?"

"She has too, I'm just not good enough yet, but I will be. I just have to work harder."

Severus didn't know what to say, it was obvious she wouldn't listen if he told her it was useless. She shivered violently in the cold. Without thinking Severus pulled his coat off and draped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she murmured.

Severus felt her forehead, she was burning up.

"You have a fever."

Amanda couldn't help herself; she leaned into his warmth and wrapped her arms around his waist. Severus allowed it, resting his outstretched arms on her shoulder and leaning back so they were lying down.

"It doesn't surprise me, considering the amount of sleep I've been getting."

"Might I suggest _more_ sleep?"

"That would make too much sense; it wouldn't fit with my reputation as a stupid little Gryffindor."

"You should go back to your dormitory," he said, starting to sit back up.

"I would rather stay out here, I sleep better outside."

"You sleep?"

"Ha ha, very funny," she said sarcastically.

"What do you do besides study?" he asked.

"Pull pranks around the school," she said, yawning.

"Really?"

"Do you remember that storm in November, where every time lightening flashed random hats would show up on people's heads?"

He remembered, vividly. He'd been given a large pink hat with singing birds on top. It was hard to forget something like that.

"Your handiwork, I suppose?"

"A joint operation between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, actually."

"Then why were the Hufflepuffs the only ones not wearing hats?"

"We had to have someone to blame," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How you made Head Girl I will never know."

"Me neither, I break the rules so often I should probably have been expelled by now."

Severus tried to imagine Hogwarts without Amanda and failed miserably, it just wouldn't be Hogwarts without her. It suddenly dawned on him that she would be leaving at the end of this year and his arm tightened subconsciously around her waist.

"What are you going to do after you graduate?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said, yawning again, "I'm not really good at anything."

"You've been tutoring older students since you were in the third year, have you really not thought about being a teacher?"

"I have thought about it, but there aren't any openings here, so I'd have to go to another school in another country or apprentice to one of the teachers here. With my luck I would end up either under my mother or under you."

"And what would be wrong with that?" he asked, feigning hurt.

"Do you really think you could handle me for that long?" she asked, sounding half asleep.

In all truth he didn't think he would mind. The little Gryffindor girl had grown on him.

"You're right; one of us would surely die before the end of the first semester."

Amanda giggled a little and he raised an eyebrow. He'd never heard her giggle before, it sounded weird from her. He started to sit up but Amanda groaned in protest, snuggling closer to his chest for warmth. She was fast asleep.

Severus lay back down and relaxed. He could let her sleep for a little longer. The sounds of the forest were comforting and before he knew it Severus had drifted off to sleep.

**Sorry about the earlier mix up, I hope the rewrite of this chapter turned out alright.**


	11. Duck!

He awoke to someone gently calling his name. Amanda's face swam into his vision and he sat up.

"Looks like we both fell asleep."

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"You've got about half an hour until breakfast starts."

He looked at her, amazed, he hadn't slept this long since he'd left Hogwarts, and there hadn't been any nightmares either. Amanda was confused.

"Should I have gotten you up earlier? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No, no. This is fine; it's just, I haven't slept that well in a long time."

She nodded, a soft smile once again gracing her features.

"You should probably go; you have classes in a few hours."

She handed him his cloak and then grimaced, a thought suddenly occurring to her.

"What?"

"I just realized I skipped detention."

"I'll tell McGonagall you were working on something for Potions with me."

"Really?" Amanda said, shocked.

"No, I just said that to get your hopes up."

Amanda rolled her eyes and threw a stick at him.

"Be nice," he warned, "or I'll give you detention."

"Good luck finding a night. I've got detention every night for the next two months."

Severus narrowed his eyes; that was a bit much for getting into a fight.

"See you in class. Don't be late."

"And don't forget to change my grade!" she called when he was almost out of earshot. He chuckled silently and continued to breakfast.

That evening at dinner the Great Hall got a grand and welcome surprise. Fireworks flew through the doors and high into the air before bursting among the rafters with much booming and whizzing about. Bright sparks in various colors rained down on students and teachers alike, some shooting back into the air and exploding again, even brighter then before. Students gasped in awe before cheering madly. Many of the older students glanced towards Amanda, knowing this meant the return of their friend.

For her part, Amanda cheered just as enthusiastically as anyone else, feeling much relieved after her talk with Severus. She felt lighter and happier, more confident then before. It was a relief to know that someone else had heard her ideas and not thought her crazy for feeling that way, or at least hadn't told her they thought so.

Classes came and went, and Steven periodically blew up a potion. Amanda watched him like a hawk to make sure he didn't blow up anything too dangerous. She fell back to her old routine and the pranks about the school were renewed.

A particularly memorable prank was held the night before break started in the Great Hall. It was snowing outside meaning the ceiling was as well. Normally the snow would fall and evaporate long before it got to the tables but today it seemed to have a life of its own. The snow balled up near the ceiling and pelted down on students. It started out slow but soon snowballs were shooting down in every direction, knocking off hats and sending students careening off their seats to avoid the snow. Not even the teachers were spared from its onslaught.

The ceiling was relentless, if anyone sent a spell at the ceiling attempting to stop it they would find themselves suddenly the main target of the ceiling and become covered from head to toe in snow. Soon the students were picking up the falling snow and hurling it at each other. It wasn't long before much of the population had fled.

Before he left Severus saw Amanda laughing gleefully while pelting others with snow. He caught her eye and she grinned and winked before being knocked to the ground by a particularly large snowball from the Hufflepuff table.

The snowball fight had lasted long after curfew, with tired students fleeing to their common room and returning later after they had warmed up. Several of the teachers found themselves in the middle of the fun; Dumbledore himself participated in the fight, using his wand to pelt snowballs down on students. Professor McGonagall had even been spotted, casting snowballs around with her wand from behind a corner. Several students had even been brave enough to hurl the snowballs back at their esteemed professors.

In the wee hours of the morning Dumbledore had called a halt to the fun, evacuating students so he could disenchant the ceiling. Severus had spotted Amanda muttering a spell at the ceiling before dashing off with the others. It wasn't long before the snowballs stopped falling from the sky, perplexing the teachers who had been trying to fix it without success.

Later on that same morning Amanda and Charlie climbed aboard the train, still excited about the snowball fight.

"That was awesome, Amy!"

"I'd say so; it took three nights to get that enchantment in place!" she said, thoroughly disgusted at the time span.

"It was worth it and you know it."

"I just can't believe how many of the teachers joined in!" she said, laughing.

"Yeah, did you see Flitwick?"

The conversation lasted them until the end of the train ride where Bill was waiting for them. They eagerly told him the story of what had happened and Bill was quite appropriately impressed.

"That sounds like an impressive bit of magic."

"Yeah but we had people from all the houses working on it." Amanda explained.

"But Amy was the one to actually perform the magic; she stayed up three nights to make sure the ceiling was ready."

Amanda blushed and Bill chuckled, eyeing his brother and causing Charlie to go a bit read in the face himself.

The Borrow was a grand place. The house looked like it could fall over at any moment but it was filled to the brim with warmth and affection. Mrs. Weasley's stomach had grown in size; she would be giving birth before long.

When she wasn't around they laid bets about the child. Amanda and Charlie both laid down five Knuts that it would be a boy, but Bill laid ten against, voting for a girl. Mr. Weasley even got in on the betting. He said that the baby would be born February Twentieth; Bill argued that it would be closer to the Tenth and Charlie put his money on the Twenty-fifth. Amanda disagreed with all of them, voting for an unbelievable January Thirtieth. They each put five Galleons into the pot.

There was also some long-term betting about how the kid would act. Amanda bet ten Galleons that the child would become Head Boy and wouldn't be involved in Quidditch at all. Charlie bet that the kid _would_ be on the Quidditch team and Bill bet ten Galleons that the kid would be a prefect but not Head Boy.

The three young adults had a grand time decorating the house and pulling pranks on each other. In the back yard they groomed the garden and tossed gnomes around. The night before Christmas Eve they stayed up singing Christmas songs and drinking eggnog so they would be able to sleep on the actual Christmas Eve. And in the morning they held a competition to see who could wake up first and wake everyone else up in the most spectacular way.

Amanda managed to wake first this year. She conjured up a horde of fake small children and sent them whizzing into the boys rooms, screaming and whistling. She'd cast a charm on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room so that they wouldn't be disturbed. Shouts could be heard from upstairs and Amanda sat quietly at the kitchen table sipping coffee. The boys thundered downstairs and tackled her, tickling unmercifully.

"Alright! ALRIGHT! I give up! Stop it!" She shrieked and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came down.

"Alright boys let her up," she said. "I guess that means you won this time, Amy. What'd you do?"

"She sent small children into our room! While we were sleeping!" Charlie sounded affronted. They all laughed and gathered around the table to open gifts.

Amanda had given Mr. Weasley a VCR, something Steven said muggles loved. Mr. Weasley was ecstatic but Mrs. Weasley groaned. Amanda made it up to her by giving her a new necklace that looked stunning with the robes her husband had gotten her, and the shoes Bill had gotten her, and the hat Charlie had gotten her. Mrs. Weasley laughed when she realized what they'd done. Amanda gave Bill a new book of curses and Charlie a broom cleaning kit. She'd sent Dumbledore sweets, socks, and various little muggle puzzles that he could enjoy; he had enough books. Her mother was sent a book and a hat to wear.

In return Amanda was given the usual box of sweets and sweater from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, this year the sweater was blue and matched her eyes. She also got a box of Zonko's joke products from Bill that and a new bracelet from Charlie; it was silver with little leafy designs. Amanda had been thrilled; it was gorgeous and told him so, causing him to go red in the face. There were also several boxes of sweets and other small things from Amanda's other friends, a few books from Dumbledore and a new robe from her mother. Amanda had also sent a book to Severus; it had taken her months to track it down.

After a while Mrs. Weasley and Amanda left the boys in the den and started cooking Christmas dinner. Mrs. Weasley's voice could be heard floating out of the kitchen as she sang along to the radio.

"You really don't have to help dear." Mrs. Weasley said.

"I know, but you certainly do need some help in this state and do you really want one of _them_ to help?"

Mrs. Weasley looked horrified at the thought of one of the boys helping and they went back to cooking.

While they were cooking an owl flew in and circled about in the kitchen. It was huge and black and snapped at anyone who approached. Charlie got bitten twice but managed to see who the letter was addressed to.

"Amy! I think it's for you!"

Amanda walked in and the bird instantly calmed down, alighting on her shoulder and sticking out its foot.

"Blimey that bird is protective." Charlie muttered. "We were going to give it to her you know!"

Amanda held out a plate of toast and bacon for the bird and he munched happily while she read the letter, there was a small package enclosed.

Thanks for the book, it's great. I hope you like this and it makes up for some of the Christmas's I missed.

She set the letter down and tipped the package into her hand, a necklace spilled out onto her palm. The necklace had a delicate silver chain with a small sapphire pendent hanging from the center. It was breath taking.

Amanda just stood there looking at it. She knew perfectly well who it was from; she'd recognized both the bird and the handwriting. But she still found it hard to believe; when they were both in school Amanda had given him a present every year, usually just some sweets and then upgrading to a book when they'd gotten closer. This year she'd sent him a book that had been particularly hard to find, she'd had to ask Dumbledore to help her. And she hadn't told him who it was for, saying the old Headmaster couldn't keep a secret for long. But Severus had never given her anything in return.

After a few moments of waiting Charlie and Bill became curious, they jumped up behind her and gaped at the necklace.

"Wow," Charlie exclaimed. "Who gave you that?!?" He read the letter over and over again. "Who do you know that's this rich?" She shook her head, not answering. Bill held out his hand.

"May I?" She gave it to him, still not saying anything. Bill worked at Gringotts and often saw such jewelry; he tapped it with his wand. It glowed green and flashed brightly. He handed it back.

"It's real, and there's a protective charm on it. Someone _really_ wanted to make up for past years apparently."

She turned to Charlie, holding out the necklace and gesturing to her neck.

"Will you?"

He nodded but scowled at the necklace when she turned her back. The necklace ran just above her collar bone and could be hidden beneath her collar if she wished, it sparkled when she moved.

At dinner Mrs. Weasley was the first to bring up the necklace.

"Oh Amy, that necklace is stunning! Who sent it to you?"

"Her boyfriend," grumbled Charlie.

"I haven't got a boyfriend. You know I would have asked your opinion you if anyone important had asked me out before I answered them," Amanda said.

"You've never told me about anyone asking you out!" he exclaimed.

"I told them all no. I was only going to tell you if there had been any chance of me saying yes."

Charlie went red in the face but looked a little relieved at these words and the conversation moved on to a different subject.

After they ate the group spent hours talking and laughing at each other. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went to bed after awhile and Amanda fell asleep soon after. She'd been leaning against Charlie, one of his arms wrapped around her waist. She nodded off with her head on his shoulder, content and safe. Charlie rested his head on hers and stared into the dieing fire. Bill watched his brother holding their friend and sighed.

"Charlie," he said. "It wasn't the beauty of that necklace that stunned her. It was the person that wrote the note."

Charlie stroked her hair absently.

"I know."

"Charlie –"

"I never told her. But its okay, I'm happy, really I am. She's like my sister. I know she loves me, just not in the same way." Bill nodded.

He stood up and patted his brother's arm as he walked by.

"Good luck, Charlie."

Charlie sighed and stared at the fire for a little longer. Eventually he gathered the sleeping woman into his arms and carried her upstairs. He set her down in her bed and tucked her in. He lingered for a moment; brushing a piece of hair out of her face before leaning down and gently brushing his lips against her forehead.

"Good night, Amy. Pleasant dreams."

She mumbled back incoherently and fell back into her slumber. Charlie smiled softly and left.

**Poor Charlie ******** Three chapters in twenty minutes, I better get a lot of reviews for this! You guys should let me know if I ever make Snape drop out of character too much, he's hard to do during the mushy parts.**


	12. Bye Bye

**Be sure to read the bottom!!! It's important!**

The next morning everyone slept in except Amanda and Charlie, she was going back to the castle and he wanted to see her off. He pulled her into a big hug.

"See you back at school," he said.

"Of course, have a good rest of the break." He watched as she stepped into the fireplace and flames enveloped her. Then he turned and went back to bed.

Amanda popped out in Dumbledore's office; he was sitting at his desk, still in his night clothes.

"You're up early," she remarked.

"I knew you'd be arriving soon and I felt that someone should be awake to welcome you back." She gave him a big hug. "Welcome home Amy," he said.

"Did you guys have a good Christmas?"

"Oh yes, you're mother gave me a charming book. The sequel to the one I was reading earlier in fact. And thank you for the puzzles, they are quite interesting."

"Thank you for the books."

"You do seem to devour them at an alarming rate."

She poked him playfully in the side.

"Maybe you're just getting slow old man."

He poked her back with a long boney finger.

"I am not old; you are just too young short stuff."

"I am not short, you are just freakishly tall. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

He laughed and waved her out of his office. Amanda wondered outside and told Carlisle, and Gryis of her Christmas. They played music until it was time for lunch and she left to find Severus.

Like usual she found him in the library.

"What are you reading?"

He held the book up so she could see.

"The book you sent me."

"And do you like it?" she asked.

"No."

"Jerk, you're supposed to lie and say you love it!"

"I'm kidding, I do like it. I've been looking for it for ages. Did you like you're necklace?"

She cocked her head and looked confused.

"What necklace?" His face paled and she laughed at him. "I'm just messing with you. I love it." She pulled it out from behind her collar to show him. "And I'll bet you paid way too much." He shrugged.

"That was mean."

"People need to stop saying I'm nice."

"No one says that," he said, turning back to his book. She looked sad for a moment. "I'm kidding again. They say it entirely too often."

"Well then I'm glad I get to annoy you even when I'm not around."

"And a good job of it you do." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"And to think I used to hang out with you."

"Even when I begged you to stop."

"Now that's just cruel." He smirked at her face and put a hand on her hair, ruffling it.

"You're just so much fun to tease." She ruffled his hair.

"Ha! See how you like it!" He scowled and tried to beat her off with his book until Madame Pierce showed up.

"Professor Snape! Amanda! I thought the two of you would know better, get out!"

They left quickly, feeling like children being caught doing something naughty. Amanda laughed as soon as they got out and Severus smirked.

"I don't think I've ever been kicked out of the library before," he said.

"Well then this is a new experience for you, we should celebrate!" She replied happily.

"I am going to read this book; you may join me if you feel you absolutely have to," he said, motioning to the dungeons and his study.

"Well when you put it that way," she said sarcastically. "Maybe I will steal one of your books for awhile."

They walked down to his quarters and sat in the front room, which was warm and cozy once Amanda started up a fire. They read in silence, simply enjoying each others company while they read.

All too soon winter break ended and classes resumed. Amanda and Charlie eagerly awaited an owl with news about the newest Weasley. It came January Thirty-first while they were at breakfast. Amanda leaned over his shoulder to read the letter. Amanda jumped up.

"Yes! Exact prediction, pay up!" It was a boy, Percy Ignatius Weasley, and he'd been born on January Thirtieth. Another owl swooped in; it was from Mr. Weasley and had all her money in it. She dished out ten Knuts for Charlie and pocketed the rest. They sent back their congratulations and then scurried to class.

In Potions that day they were able to pick their potions again and Amanda got started quickly. She picked a potion used for cleaning imperfections from diamonds; it was one she hadn't made before, but unfortunately it was also very acidic so she had to wear her dragon hide gloves, and even that wouldn't help if she spilled it on herself.

Even less fortunate, all the potions had the potential to be highly explosive and Amanda spent most of the hour keeping a watchful eye on Steven. Twice she had to quickly hand him ingredients and explain how to fix his potion when it began to smoke ominously.

Severus left Mr. Quirke under Amanda's care, knowing the boy only became jumpier when he was around. He watched them avert disaster twice and shook his head, Potions really wasn't safe for this kid. Severus almost sighed in relief when he saw the boy's potion was finished.

Severus was checking on one of his other students when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Steven tripped, knocking his cauldron with his elbow and sending the contents flying towards Amanda. She barely had time to look up before the contents of Steven's potion landed on her and her still simmering potion. The two reacted immediately and violently, sending Amanda flying backwards over her desk in a fiery cloud of acid and flames. She slammed into the far wall with a thud and slumped to the ground.

Severus was there in an instant, kneeling in front of her. Amanda had curled into a ball, cradling her arms to her chest. She trembled violently and there was a slight streak of blood on the wall, it was oozing slowly from the back of her head. But what concerned Severus even more was that acid he knew had to be eating away at her arms.

"Amy, you have to let me see."

He pulled gently at her sleeves and she uncurled slowly. Severus's eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together in a grimace. Her arms were an angry red, as were parts of her face and neck. The gloves she'd been wearing were quickly being eaten away and he ripped them off before the acid could get to her skin. Underneath he could see the potion eating away at her flesh with his own eyes.

Severus tried to wash the remnants of the potion off with some water from his wand but it didn't work and only made Amanda whimper from the added pain. Severus felt helpless as the girl in front of him trembled and whimpered quietly. He scooped her into his arms and strode out of the room.

"Everybody out," he said. "Now! If any of the liquid touched you follow me to the hospital wing."

He marched quickly through the halls, keeping an eye on Amanda all the while. She'd buried her face into his robes but kept her arms out were he could see them. Her sleeves had almost completely vanished. Around one of her wrists the acidic potion had eaten away all the skin and blood, leaving only the bone. And that too was slowly being eaten away by the potion. She was so pale that her skin was almost gray from blood loss.

Severus almost sighed in relief when he entered the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey rushed right over. She tried to take Amanda from him but he gestured for her to lead the way instead. The nurse looked a little confused but took him to a bed near the back. Together they gently and carefully disentangled Amanda from his robes and set her on the bed, all without touching anywhere the acid remained. Madame Pomfrey nearly shrieked when she saw what had happened.

"How did this happen?" she cried as she ran to her cabinets for supplies.

"Her potion exploded." He noticed a few other students behind him. "A few other students were injured but not as seriously."

Madame Pomfrey called for another nurse to take care of the others and shooed Severus out of her way, closing the curtain behind him.

A few minutes later one of the students came back from behind a different curtain, a bandage wrapped around his hand. Severus called him over.

"You, go and alert Professor McGonagall what's happened. And don't just scream it out in front of her class; actually walk up to her desk."

The boy nodded and sprinted off to the Transfiguration classroom.

While he waited for Minerva to arrive he could hear small gasps and an occasional cry from behind the curtain. Each one made him wince. Steven walked out from behind the other curtain, he looked wretched. Severus glared and when he spoke it was with all the finality of Death himself.

"You will not come back to my class on Monday," he said. "You are going to drop Advanced Potions, and if I see you anywhere near my classroom again you will sorely regret it."

The boy nodded and left, not offering a word of protest.

Professor McGonagall entered soon after, her lips were pursed and her face white.

"What happened?" she asked. Severus gestured at the retreating boy.

"There was an accident, Amanda caught the full blow."

A small cry of pain punctuated the end of his sentence and Professor McGonagall brushed past him, disappearing behind the curtain.

Severus took a seat and a moment later Minerva joined him, her face green. He imagined what Amanda must look like at the moment, with her face and arms nearly bare of skin, the white bone underneath slowly decaying. He couldn't picture her crying; he'd never really seen her do it before. The picture he'd imagined made Severus feel as ill as McGonagall looked and he shook his head, trying to clear it.

They sat tensely and waited, completely forgetting about their next class. Every small noise or cry of pain from behind the curtain making them flinch or jump with worry. Half way through what would have been their next class Dumbledore arrived.

"Ah, here you both are. The students were starting to wonder." Professor Dumbledore glanced from the curtain, to Severus, to Minerva, who still looked ill. "What has happened?"

"There was an accident and Amanda was injured." Severus supplied, forcing the words passed clenched teeth. Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak but at that moment Madame Pomfrey stepped out.

"We'll keep her asleep for a few days, until most of the pain wears off. At that point she'll be able to go back to class although she won't be fully healed and I'll want her to stay here at night. After a few weeks, with proper tending, she won't even have a scar. But the next few weeks _will_ be painful." She warned.

Minerva nodded and went to stand by her daughter. It wasn't long before she swept out, looking grim. Dumbledore went after her and Severus walked over to the bed.

Amanda had been tucked under the blankets, but what he could see didn't reassure him that she was okay. Bandages covered much of her face and neck, both of her eyes were covered and her arms were bandaged up past the elbow. He noticed his necklace lying on the table and picked it up, looking for damage. Apparently the protective spell he'd put on it had worked, it was unharmed. He replaced it on the table and left.

The next few days slipped by in a blur, Monday came and went and still no Amanda. Cards and candy were sent to her in the hospital wing but she wasn't awake to see them.

Tuesday had almost passed and Amanda still hadn't returned to class and Severus was growing impatient. He should have removed Steven from his class a long time ago, on that first day when Amanda had admitted to helping him. He graded papers angrily, criticizing heavily.

There was a tap on his door.

"Enter!" he barked, not looking up. Quiet footsteps approached and still he didn't look up.

"I'd hate to be the guy that wrote that essay." He looked up, it was Amanda. He glanced at the paper he'd been grading; it was almost completely covered in marks. She held a paper out to him.

"My essay that was due today."

He almost rolled his eyes; unconscious in the Hospital Wing and she'd still managed to turn her essay in ion time, something most of his healthy students hadn't mastered.

"Feeling better?" She rolled up her sleeve to show him the bandages peeking out from her elbow-length gloves.

"A little numbing potion in the gloves makes the pain melt away," she said.

"Where did you get the numbing potion?"

"I stole it from the private store under you're bed." Her tone was teasing, but she turned serious when he raised an eyebrow at her pointedly. "I made it shortly after the fight; I had some left after the bruises healed." Severus's gaze was drawn to her neck and cheek where some of the skin was still red. He stood up.

"May I?" Amanda tilted her head up a little and his fingers cupped her chin, tilting her face away so he could get a better look.

The skin was raw and pink and ran from her cheekbone down to her collar bone in a splatter pattern. Severus felt the marks, noticing how smooth the skin around it was compared to the angry red scars. He leaned in to get a closer look, nose inches away from her neck. Severus felt her pulse quicken under his fingers and he leaned back, suddenly very aware of how close they were. The tension in the room had thickened and he quickly tried to think of something to say. Amanda however, spoke first.

"It was a good idea to charm the necklace; I would have felt horrible if it had been ruined."

"When do you get to remove the bandages?" he asked, relieved to have something else to talk about.

"Tomorrow night, but I'll have to keep the gloves for awhile longer."

She yawned and Severus waved her out.

"Go to bed, Miss McGonagall. Get some sleep." She laughed but obediently started for the door.

"That would make too much sense! I'm stupid little Gryffindor remember?"

"A stupid little Gryffindor _girl_." She vanished around the corner laughing the whole way.

"I believe I am old enough to be a stupid little Gryffindor _woman_." She called back. Severus chuckled, woman indeed.

The months flew by. There were no more accidents in Amanda's Potion's class, which was a relief but she missed Steven. The class just wasn't as fun without someone to talk to, but she still loved it.

Older students began studying harder then ever with finals coming up and people started breaking down. Amanda watched as her friends broke down one by one under the stress. She put a halt to the pranks, as she always did around this time of year, and focused on helping her friends and patrolling the school, looking for contraband materials that were supposed to help with finals.

Amanda seemed to be the only one not affected by the new workload; it was something she was used to. She tried to help her friends as much as she could, studying with them or helping with their homework.

When the last finals were finished it was as if a heavy cloud had been lifted from over the school, allowing the people to breathe in and savor the fine weather. Amanda was confident about her finals, she'd always scored high and she doubted that would change this year.

On the last day of school the normal chaos ensued, with first through sixth years leaving by way of the train while the seventh years stayed behind for one more day to celebrate their graduation.

Amanda was standing outside the hall, surrounded by her old friends. Amelia Bones had broken down completely and was crying on Amos's shoulder. Amanda shuffled to the side, trying to stay out of all the emotional mumbo jumbo. Something else was troubling her, it was graduation day, she would be accepting an award for graduating with the highest marks in the school, highest ever, actually, and she still hadn't gotten her mothers praise. It was really starting to make her mad; she hadn't worked hard for the past seven years just to fail!

She suddenly collided with something semi-solid, wrenching her from her thoughts and nearly making her fall to the ground. A pair of strong arms grabbed her and Charlie peered down at her.

"How're you feeling?"

"Great," she said.

"Not nervous about leaving Hogwarts?"

"Nope."

He frowned; he knew something was bothering her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"She's proud, who wouldn't be?"

"I know! I know, but I want to _hear_ it!"

Amanda still couldn't explain why her mother's praise meant so much to her, but she was feeling rather desperate. All she knew was that she had to hear it, just to know that she wasn't worthless to her mother.

Professor McGonagall was shuffling them into line now, pushing people around so they appeared organized.

"She will," Charlie assured. "When you go up there to shake the hands of all you're teachers you'll look into her eyes and they'll be brimming with pride. So don't worry about it."

When he spoke it was as if the images flowed from his mouth, and Amanda could almost see them floating in the air, just out of her reach.

"Did you practice that?" she asked. He looked at the floor.

"Yeah actually, I thought you might be worried." She gave him a hug.

"Thanks Charlie, you're the best." He didn't let her go and smirked, whispering so only she could hear.

"What would happen if the best stole a kiss?"

"Does the best want a punch in the face?" Charlie hesitated for a moment, then, deciding it was worth it, claimed her lips with his own, holding her tightly.

Amanda was shocked and couldn't move. This was Charlie, _her_ _brotherly_ Charlie! He released her and grinned happily. Amanda scowled and pulled back her arm. Before she could throw her punch Charlie had scampered away with a small laugh and the doors opened. But, oh, how she'd get him later.

The group filed in to the applause of their teachers and families. Students were called up individually to receive rewards for various achievements around the school. Amanda got several awards, including the Medal for Magical Merit and Barnabus Finkley's Prize for Exceptional Spell-Casting, something that didn't really surprise anyone but Amanda.

Then they began calling everyone up one by one. Each person would walk up, receive a certificate from Dumbledore and walk down the line of teachers, shaking hands and receiving congratulations. Most people teared up as they walked down the line and even Severus's glare wasn't enough to make them calm down.

When Amanda was called up there was thunderous applause from her fellow classmates. Dumbledore handed Amanda her scroll and threw his arms around her in a great hug.

"Well done, Amy, well done," he whispered.

She clasped her arms around his back for a final squeeze and moved down the line as Dumbledore called out the next name. Teachers shook her hand and gave little exclamations of congratulations and well wishes, but it all rolled over Amanda, she only wanted to hear it from one person. Her mother shook her hand and nodded before turning to the boy behind Amanda.

"Congratulations Mercus! Well done indeed."

Something moved in Amanda, feelings of despair and anger roared up in her stomach making it hard for her to feel anything else. Severus, who was the last teacher in line, saw her expression and guessed what had occurred, or not occurred in this case. He took her hand firmly in his, pulling her down the line and away from her mother.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded and took her place with the other students, her expression hard. Amanda attempted to push it out of her mind and cheered happily for her friends.

After at last the last person was called the students gave a massive cheer and families jumped down to be with their newly graduated sons and daughters. Amelia, now finished crying engulfed Amanda in a hug, saying,

"Go on, see what she says."

She pushed her forward. Amanda walked up to her mother slowly; almost afraid of what the woman would say. Professor McGonagall saw her and turned.

"Ah, Amanda, just the person I wanted to see." Amanda's heart leapt. "Will you be alright for dinner tonight? I need to stay here and work out a few things and I'm sure you're anxious to get out of here for awhile."

Amanda nodded mutely and the woman turned away, back to the family she was congratulating. It was as if a sudden silence had fallen and something in her chest seemed to swell painfully. She just stood there as rage overcame the other emotions welling up inside. Was there something wrong with her? Why couldn't she get even the smallest 'good job' from the woman? She was her _daughter_ for Pete's sake! Didn't she deserve some small token of acknowledgement for how hard she'd worked?

Amanda started shaking with anger, her fists at her sides and splotches of red starting to form on her cheeks. She turned and walked out as quickly as possible with the large crowd in the way. A few people tried to stop her but she pushed through them, even Charlie and Bill who had no idea what had happened.

The two boys tried to catch up to her but they had no idea where she was going and went the wrong way, quickly realizing that she was gone.

Severus watched the whole scene from the teacher's platform. Could the woman really be that blind? Did she not realize what she was doing to her own daughter? He could practically see Amanda falling to pieces inside at her mothers words. He brushed roughly past the oblivious McGonagall and strode quickly onto the grounds. Seeing her almost at the gates he quickened his pace.

"Amy!" he called out. Without looking back or slowing her pace she answered him.

"I am not going to stick around and be reminded of what I can't have!" Her tone was laced with venom and distress.

"Amy, stop!" She turned and looked at him for a moment. And for just a moment their eyes locked and Severus could feel the worthlessness felt under crystal blue eyes. They shined with unshed tears and pent up frustration. But the moment ended, and with a loud '**crack**,' she was gone, Appirated to who knows where.

It didn't start raining, and the air wasn't suddenly still in her absence. The sun still shone brightly through the clouds and merry shrieks of laughter still drifted on the wind from the castle. And yet, Severus felt as though it should be raining, the sky should weep for their loss. What was Hogwarts without Amy to brighten everyone's day?

He stared at the spot for hours, unmoving. Students passed him by, wondering what he was doing but not daring to ask the ever intimidating Potions master. Long after the sun had set and he could no longer see the road Severus walked quietly back to the castle. Professor McGonagall met him at the door.

"Severus, do you know where Amanda is? Matilda says she's not at home and I can't seem to find her in the castle." He stared at her, fighting not to show his anger at the woman's obvious ignorance of her own daughter.

"I have no idea were she went. She's gone. Tell me Minerva, how much do you know about you're child? Did you know the reason she always looks so tired? Did you know why she hangs out with the other houses more then her own? Did you even realize that she had the best grades this school has ever seen?" He couldn't hold all of the contempt out of his voice and he saw anger flash in her eyes.

"I have no idea what you're on about Severus, but of course I know my own daughter! And what do you mean she's gone?"

"Disapirated, vanished! As in no longer here! Honestly, I thought you knew the definition of gone."

He slid past the shocked woman. Dumbledore was waiting by the stairs, his eyes filled with grief.

"Severus?"

"Ask Minerva!" he snarled and swept off to the dungeons where only nightmares awaited him.

**Ok, so, a few things real quick.**

**1. If I hadn't made the time skip can you imagine how long this would end up being?! I'm already up to 40,000 words! But I realize how sucky huge time skips are and I apologize.**

**2. This story is going to go all the way through to Deathly Hallows, and seeing as there's about to be ****yet another**** time jump, would it be better if I made the next part a sequel or just turned this into a freakishly long story? Because it's going to be really long.**

**3. Thank you all for reviewing. But you're not getting anymore story until someone answers my question about the sequel thing.**


	13. return of the queen

The few months of summer break after Amanda left were more enough for Severus to become even more frightening then ever, something his students discovered rather quickly. Even Professor McGonagall had become more withdrawn and strict than before, dishing out harsher punishments and withholding praises from students unless they truly deserved it.

It was Christmas morning before any of them heard from Amanda. Instead of swooping down over the few remaining students three owls detached themselves from the small flurry and landed at the head table, one each for Severus, Minerva and Dumbledore. Each owl carried a letter and a small package with small swooping handwriting on it.

Curious as to who would write to him, Severus tore the letter open, not even noticing as the owl began to peck at the toast on his plate.

Dear Severus, Merry Christmas! I found this and thought you might enjoy it. If you're still mad at me please don't throw the gift away, you'll like it! I hope you're students this year are more competent then last years, though I'm sure none of them meet you're standards. Don't bite anyone's head off, and most of all BE PATIENT! They're still learning!

Ever you're friend

-Amy

He set the letter aside and opened the package; it contained an ancient book filled with potions Severus had never even heard of. Severus felt some of his anger melt away, she knew him to well.

Down the table, Minerva was reading a similar letter.

Dear mother, Merry Christmas! Sorry about leaving so abruptly last year, I won't explain now. I hope this finds you in good health, and I'm sure you've got a lovely bunch of new Gryffindors keeping you busy. I apologize again because I'm horrible at writing letters. Anyways, I just wanted to send you your Christmas gift and see how you were doing, even though I know you can't send this back. I hope you have a great year.

-Love Amy

A single tear trickled down her cheek. After almost a year this was all she got? She didn't even know if Amanda was safe, or happy. Hopefully the fact that she sent a letter meant she was, but being a mother Minerva still worried.

Next to the despairing woman Dumbledore opened his letter.

Dear Albus, or Dumbledore if you prefer, (I thought about 'Pops' for awhile too, but didn't think you'd appreciate that title) I'm sorry. I'm sure leaving like that disrupted a few things, but then again maybe it didn't. I may never know. But I'm afraid I have something else to ask of you. I know you already do, but I want to ask that you keep an eye on mum, I'm sure she's a little upset. In any case Merry Christmas! I hope you are well. I know how much you like the holidays so have fun, maybe start a snowball fight.

Hopefully still you're favorite fake daughter

-Amy

Albus glanced to his Deputy Headmistress, Amanda had been right, the woman's hands shook and the letter was tightly bunched in her fist. He sighed and reached over, placing his hand on hers.

"She's alright, she's safe, and she sends her love. One day she'll come back and the two of you can sit around a fire gossiping about students you had and friends she used to know." Minerva looked at him bleakly and he sighed. "Come up to my office dear. We can open our presents and reminisce of lighter times."

She followed him up and soon enough they were both in better spirits, laughing happily about pranks pulled in previous years, and even talking about Amanda some.

Another year passed and they each received a similar letter, wishing them well and assuring them that she was fine. And so it was for the year after that, and the next one, and the year following, each time with a small present. Every year for ten years they each got a single letter on Christmas morning from Amanda.

But in Harry's third year at Hogwarts the letters stopped. On that morning they all eagerly watched the flock of owls swirling about above their heads but none of them landed at the head table. McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged anxious glances and Severus narrowed his eyes, silently worried. He shook it off, deciding that she was just a little late. They started to expect a letter to arrive at a later date, apologizing for making them worry and reassuring them that she was alright. But one never arrived. They began to lose hope and Severus became even gloomier, thinking the worst for his old friend.

"Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!" cried Dumbledore, from where he was waiting with the other teachers.

It was now Harry's fourth year and the Triwizard tournament would be starting soon. They all shifted from foot to foot in the cold air, trying to keep warm while the students attempted to guess how the schools would be arriving.

"Where?" shouted many of the students. And then they saw it.

"It's a dragon!"

"Don't be stupid… it's a flying house!"

They were both wrong. It was a giant blue carriage drawn by a dozen humongous white-winged horses. With a tremendous crash the carriage landed, causing many of the students to jump back in fear.

A small boy bounced out of the carriage, fumbled with something at the bottom and unfolded a small set of stairs. After a moment a very large woman unfolded herself from within. She was Hagrid sized; her shoes alone were the size of a child's sled. She was very clearly the reason for the massively sized carriage.

Dumbledore led the students into a round of applause and the woman smiled. From behind her a smaller woman emerged, though she stood in the first woman's shadow and not much could be seen about her except for how small she seemed in comparison to the first lady.

"My Dear Madame Maxime," said Dumbledore, bending little to kiss her hand. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," Her voice was deep. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you." She gestured to a small woman behind her.

"I 'ope you will forgive me, but when I learned that my Deputy 'eadmistress knew you, I 'ad to bring 'er."

The woman stepped forward. He voice was softer as she held out her hand, not meant for anyone but Dumbledore.

"Hello, Albus."

He smiled gleefully and took her hand, pulling her into a hug.

"Welcome back, my child." His tone became weighty. "You stopped writing, we were worried."

"Forgive me, but I have been unwell."

Indeed, upon closer examination she did appear to be a bit under the weather. Her skin was as pale as if she'd just taken a swim in the lake and she seemed to be thinner too, quite an accomplishment considering how thin she had been the last time she had been here. Dark circles could be seen under her eyes, craftily concealed by make up. But it was still Amanda, and she still looked radiant. Dark blue robes made her eyes sparkle in the moonlight and her raven black hair hung longer then ever, pulled into a braid that trailed down to her knees and cut so the bangs framed her face. Now that she was no longer standing in Madame Maxime's shadow she looked a little taller, looking to be just a little shorter then Snape.

"'As Karkaroff arrived yet?" Madame Maxime asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "You are free to step inside and warm up a trifle if you desire."

"I'm afraid our students are used to a warmer climate and I would prefer to take them in," Amanda said, gesturing to the forgotten students behind them.

About a dozen students in their late teens were standing just outside the carriage. Many of them were shivering, which was unsurprising as their clothes appeared to be made of fine silk and none of them were wearing cloaks.

"I agree," said Madame Maxime. "But se 'orses-"

"Our care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore.

"My steeds require – er – forceful 'handling." She looked as if she seriously doubted that any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts would be up to the job. "Zey are very strong…"

"I assure you that Hagrid will be well up to the job."

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. She said something in French to Amanda before turning to her students. "Come," she said grandly, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to let her and her students through.

"Hagrid? I'm glad, he needed something to do other then be the gamekeeper." Amanda said, smiling slightly to Dumbledore. "Will you inform Hagrid that the horses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It shall be attended to." Amanda turned to follow her Headmaster. "Amy, your mother will want to speak to you."

"I'm sure she does," she said grimly before hurrying to pass before the crowd closed up. As she passed, Severus scowled and looked away, angry that she had left them to think her dead, and then show up here as if nothing had happened.

It wasn't long before Karkaroff arrived, and even less time passed before they all filed back into the warm castle. The Beauxbatons were sitting at the Ravenclaw table, looking around with glum expressions. And the Durmstrang students filled up the empty seats at the Slytherin table.

When all the students had entered the hall and seated themselves the staff entered, filing up to the top table and taking their seats. Last in line were Professor Dumbledore, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime and the young Deputy Headmistress whose name they had never been told. When Madame Maxime appeared the Beauxbaton students leapt to their feet, ignoring the snickers of a few Hogwarts students and not reseating themselves until their Headmistress had sat down on Dumbledore's left-hand side. Dumbledore remained standing and welcomed them all to Hogwarts, expressing his wishes that they have a pleasurable stay.

Up at the staff table Ludo Bagman and Bartemius Crouch had arrived and taken their places at the table. Ludo sat next to Professor Karkaroff and Mr. Crouch by the Beauxbaton's Deputy Headmistress. Hagrid had slid into his seat at the end.

"Amy! Its good t'er see y'eh!" he called, waving at her from the end of the table. She smiled and waved.

"And you, _professor_."

He blushed and turned to his food. Teachers of old suddenly rounded on her and expressed their pleasure that she was back. Amanda thanked each of them softly and politely.

"You did not tell me you were so popular at 'Ogwarts," said Madame Maxime.

Many of the staff paused to hear what Amanda would say, their forks half-way raised to their mouths and their ears straining to catch her soft words.

"Hogwarts was my home, and I could not bear to speak ill of it, even surrounded as I was by beautiful Beauxbaton." she said. "Had you known of my past here you surely would have asked me to give a comparison, and how could I truly judge when I am and will always be tied to my first school?"

Madame Maxime seemed pleased with the answer, and after a moment the rest of the staff returned to their meals. Only Severus had remained quiet, brooding on new developments. The elder McGonagall made no attempts to speak to Amanda and the younger McGonagall did not speak at all unless it was necessary, but the silence of the three professors did nothing to dampen the spirits of the rest of the table.

When the plates were empty and the food cleared away Dumbledore rose again. Students leaned forward, eager to hear about the Triwizard cup.

"The moment has come," Dumbledore said, smiling at the upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to begin. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring out the casket, just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those of you who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued. "And they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word 'champions,' the attentiveness of the listening students seemed to sharpen, only to be ruined again a moment later.

"Who's the lovely woman that came with the French?" A tall red head from the Gryffindor table shouted, shattering the sudden attentiveness of the students.

"Next to Madame Maxime!" An identical looking boy shouted after him. Agreeable murmuring came from the surrounding tables, they were all curious.

Amanda froze as Dumbledore turned to her, _he_ _wouldn't_. He would.

"I'll let her introduce herself." He moved out of the way so that she was the center of attention. Amanda took a deep breath and stood up. While loud enough to be heard by those who strained there ears, her voice was still softer then it used to be.

"As I'm sure you know I'm the Deputy Headmistress at Beauxbaton Academy, my name is Amanda McGonagall." She sat down, refusing to say anymore and forcing Dumbledore to continue. The students looked a little surprised at the shortness of her speech and the fact that she had said McGonagall, but didn't dwell on it too long.

"The casket if you please, Mr. Filch."

Filch, who had been lurking in a far corner of the Hall, approached Dumbledore, carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face have been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the in many different ways…"

Dumbledore went on to explain what the tournament would entail. Afterwards he took out his wand and tapped the top of the casket, causing it to creep slowly open. Dumbledore reached in and pulled out a large wooden cup, wholly unremarkable if not for the blue flames that danced within.

"Anyone wishing to submit themselves as a champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To insure that no underage student yields to temptation I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross the line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament to the end. The placing of you're name into the goblet constitutes a binding magical contract. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

Amanda escaped the head table quickly and strode towards the doors, arriving just after Karkaroff had suddenly stopped, staring at a boy standing near him in shocked wonderment. The boy was tall and skinny, with messy black hair, he reminded her of James. She remembered he and Lily had had a son shortly before their deaths.

Moody's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, that's Harry Potter."

So this was James's son, she wondered if he acted as much like his father as he looked like him. Karkaroff spun around, the color in his face drained away and a look of fury and fear overcame him.

"You!" he shouted, pointing to Moody.

Amanda rolled her eyes, she had lost patience waiting.

"Him. And unless you have something to say to Potter or Professor Moody I suggest you move, you're blocking the door," she said, in the voice she saved for people she felt were especially stupid.

Karkaroff glared at her for a moment before sweeping out with his student's right behind him. Moody watched him walk away, an intense look of dislike on his face. Amanda followed Karkaroff out, her students not far behind.

"Professor McGonagall, wait!" Harry called out. Both McGonagalls were in the vicinity and so both approached.

"Yes Potter?" said the elder of the two.

"With which of us did you wish to speak?" asked Amanda.

"Well I wanted to thank you," he said, gesturing towards Amanda. "But I was wondering if the two of you were related." The two women stared at each other for a moment before speaking.

"Yes Potter. She's my daughter." The elder McGonagall answered him. Amanda nodded in agreement.

"You may call me Amy, if you wish, to save further confusion," she said. "But now I must attend to my students. Good night to the both of you." She inclined her head to them and left.

"I didn't know you had a daughter," said Harry in confusion.

"Of course not," said Minerva primly, before walking away.

The next morning Amanda walked down to breakfast alone; she'd been up and out to the forest already, where she was introduced to Firenze, the son of Gryis and Ash. He had been kind and respectful, and Gryis had been truly happy to see her.

Walking into the entrance hall she was met by a strange scene. Two boys, the ones who had asked about her name, where dancing around, holding vials of something. Their red hair made her think of the Weasley's but they were surely too young for that. If she had to guess Amanda would have said they were holding ageing potions. Dumbledore joined her a moment later and they watched with identical amused expressions.

"Ready?" asked the one who had spoken first. "C'mon, then, I'll go first."

He jumped over the age line. For a moment nothing happened and the other boy must have taken this as a sign that the potion had worked. He gave a yell of triumph and jumped over the line.

A moment later there was a loud sizzling sound and the two identical boys were thrown out of the circle. They landed painfully on the stone floor and a moment later there was a loud popping noise and they both grew identical long white beards. The hall erupted in laughter, and after a moment even the twins laughed.

Dumbledore stepped foreword, still laughing.

"I did warn you." he said, eyeing the two boys. "I suggest you both go up to Madame Pomfrey. She is already tending Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours. Wouldn't you say Amy?"

"I don't know," she said. "I think I've seen it somewhere before." She playfully pulled on Dumbledore's own silvery beard and he laughed, leading her into the Great hall.

The hall was decorated with hundreds of pumpkins and a cloud of bats that fluttered about on the ceiling. Amanda smiled, recalling a time when she'd enchanted the bats to leave the Great hall and swoop down on unsuspecting students. She proceeded up to the table and took a seat at the end, next to Severus.

"Good morning, Severus," she said.

He didn't reply, just drank his coffee quietly. Amanda ignored the sour professor and grabbed a few pieces of bacon to munch on. The two sat in silence before Severus noticed a glint of silver around her neck.

"You still wear that necklace?" he said, sneering at her. Amanda's eyes narrowed.

"Do you have a problem with it?" she asked coldly.

"Why would I care?" he said, turning away from her.

"I wouldn't know, Severus," she whispered to herself. Severus heard her and was about to respond when a Beauxbatons student ran up to Amanda and started speaking rapidly in French. Amanda seemed to ignore the child and eat a piece of bacon while the distressed girl spoke.

"Why did you learn English?" she asked once the girl had finished. The student promptly replied in French and Amanda raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, yes, sorry. But Gabriela-"

"Has a cold. Something the Hogwarts Hospital wing is more then capable of taking care of." She stood up. "I will take you both there. Have a good day, _Professor_." Severus's hands tightened around his mug at the use of his title as he watched her walk away. Her cold tone left Severus feeling like he'd been slapped.

**I swear the time skip from when she left to being in Harry's fourth year is the last one! I mean, obviously I'll skip a few days here and there, but not years.**

**Also I'd like to thank unoriginallyanonymous for the great review (including the little criticism about Sirius) but I'd like to point out that Sirius will most definitely be back, and I plan to add a little depth to him then. **

**And for Nayflower05, don't worry about the long review, I like to know what you guys are thinking, otherwise how would I make it better?**

**And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Thank you!**


	14. 4 Champions

Severus didn't see Amanda again until dinner that night, when the champions would be chosen. She was sitting next to him again, having walked in late it had been the only seat left. The eyes of every student in the hall were fixed on the goblet, which was now sitting in front of Dumbledore's chair, even the teachers sat tensely, watching, waiting. Only Amanda appeared calm.

"You don't look very worried," Severus whispered. She turned and raised an eyebrow, wondering why he was suddenly talking again.

"Being friendly again are we?" she asked coldly.

"They thought you were dead! How were we supposed to take the news that you were alive and just didn't bother to take the time and write?" he whispered furiously.

"I already told Dumbledore, I haven't been able to write."

"It's been nearly a year, and I'm supposed to believe that you've been unable to write in all that time?"

"You can either believe me or you can't, but that doesn't mean it isn't true." She turned away from him, leaving Severus to feel as if he'd been slapped once again.

"Why were you unable to write then?" he asked.

"I have been unwell."

"And now?"

"Better then before," she said quietly.

They turned back to the feast just in time to hear Dumbledore announce Viktor Krum as the Durmstrang champion. The hall erupted into cheers and Karkaroff could be heard shouting congratulations above the noise. Moments later the goblet shot forth another piece of parchment.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," said Dumbledore "is Fleur Delecour!"

Severus recognized the girl who had been distressed that morning as she walked past them and out of the hall. Amanda groaned slightly.

"Not your first pick?" Severus asked. In answer she just gesture towards the other Beauxbatons who were now extremely distressed, two girls were even crying in each others arms.

"They have lost the honor and fame that would have come with being a champion," she said disgustedly. "So they will cry that they no longer have the chance to die for others entertainment." Severus chuckled at her.

"Have fun dealing with your upset students," he teased.

"Only you would laugh at that," she teased back. "Sadist."

"I'd say mentally backwards teenagers were a specialty of yours."

"That must be why we got along so well," she mused.

"Only because you were just as backwards as the rest of us."

"If so many of us were backwards then perhaps we were normal and it was just everyone else who had a problem."

"Try telling them that," he said. They chuckled quietly as the last piece of parchment flew out, bearing the name of the Hogwarts champion.

"Cedric Diggory!" The applause was deafening. Amanda was surprised, Amos's boy? It was some time before Dumbledore could make himself heard again.

"Excellent!" he called happily. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count on all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champion every once of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real –"

The goblets fire had turned red again, distracting Dumbledore. A long red flame shot out, bearing another piece of burnt parchment. Dumbledore reached out and caught it almost automatically. He held it out and stared long upon the name it held before reading out –

"Harry Potter."

There was no cheering at the end of his words, only a deafening silence. Professor McGonagall had risen to her feet and swept past Ludo and Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly. After a moment he nodded.

"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"

The confused boy stood up, stumbled slightly on his robes and walked forward until he stood right in front of Dumbledore. The old Headmaster gestured for him to walk through the door after the remaining champions.

As soon as the boy vanished the hall erupted in angry voices, the staff went ballistic, not knowing what to make of it. Mr. Bagman raced after the boy, disappearing through the door.

"Madame Maxime, Professor Karkaroff," said Dumbledore. "Mr. Crouch, Minerva, Severus, if you would all follow me." Madame Maxime motioned to Amanda.

"Come, Amy, we will see about this!" Amanda followed them in to find the original three champions staring at Mr. Bagman in shock.

"Madame Maxime!" cried a distressed looking Fleur. "Madame McGonagall! Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

Madame Maxime drew herself up to her full height, the top of her head brushing the chandelier.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.

"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff. He reminded Amanda of Lucius, he smiled but his eyes were deadly blocks of ice. "_Two_ Hogwarts champions? I don't remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions – or have I not read the rules carefully enough?" He gave a snort and a nasty laugh.

"_C'est impossible,"_ said Madame Maxime, her enormous hand resting on Fleur's shoulder. "'Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions. It is most injust."

"We were under the impression that your age line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff. "Otherwise, we would have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."

"It's no ones fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Severus. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here –"

_Much like me,_ Amanda thought grimly.

"Thank you Severus," said Dumbledore firmly. He turned to Harry, who looked right back at him.

"Did you put your name into the Goblet of Fire Harry?" he asked calmly.

"No." Snape made a soft noise of impatient disbelief.

"Did you ask an older student to put it into the Goblet of Fire for you?" he asked, ignoring Snape.

"_No,_" said Harry.

"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Madame Maxime.

"He could not have crossed the Age Line," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "I am sure we are all agreed on that-"

"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz ze line," said Madame Maxime, shrugging.

"It is possible, of course," Dumbledore replied politely.

"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Really, what non-sense! Harry could not have crossed that line himself, and as Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I'm sure that should be good enough for everybody else!"

She shot an angry look at Professor Snape. Madame Maxime turned to Amanda.

"Professor McGonagall, what do you think of zis?" Amanda looked a little cross at having been thrown into the position of either staying loyal to the school she was currently employed at or vouching for the school she had grown up in.

"I have personally seen the Age Line in effect and do not believe Potter could have crossed it. I cannot attest to the boy's character, but if Dumbledore believes he did not ask an older student to do it for him then I would be inclined to believe him." Madame Maxime bristled but calmed herself at Amanda's cool words. "Perhaps Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman, as our objective judges could shed some light on this predicament."

At this all eyes shifted to Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman and Amanda looked relieved.

Mr. Bagman looked to Crouch, who looked eerie and almost ill in the half darkness.

"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, turning back to the professors as if the matter were now closed.

"I insist upon resubmitting the names of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff, his smile gone. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire once more, and we will continue to add names until each school has two champions. It's only fair, Dumbledore."

"But Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out – it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament-"

"In which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our meetings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected something of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?" Moody had entered the room.

"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."

"Don't you? It's very simple Karkaroff. Someone put Harry's name into the goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."

"Evidently someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.

"I quite agree Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic _and_ the International Confederation of Wizards –"

"If anyone's got reason to complain. It's Potter," growled Moody. "But… funny thing… I don't hear _him_ saying a word…"

"Why should 'e complain?" burst out Fleur. "'E 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't 'e? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honor for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money – zis is a chance many would die for!"

"Maybe someone's hoping Potter _is_ going to die for it," said Moody. The silence became very tense after that, Ludo Bagman danced nervously on his feet.

"Moody old man… what a thing to say!"

"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he has not uncovered six plots to murder him before lunch time," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination as well. An odd quality in a Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but I'm sure you had your reasons."

"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boys name into the goblet…"

"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Madame Maxime, throwing up her large hands.

"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" said Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus charm to bamboozle the goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament… I'm guessing they submitted Potter's name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in the category…"

"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly. "And a very ingenious theory it is- though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it into pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand me if I don't take you entirely seriously."

"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a menacing voice. "It's my job to think as Dark wizards do, Karkaroff- as you ought to remember…"

"Alastor!" Dumbledore said warningly. Moody fell silent, regarding Karkaroff with satisfaction.

"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone in the room. "It seems to me, however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournament. This, therefore, they will do…"

"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr –"

"My dear Madame Maxime, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it." Madame Maxime fell silent, glaring. She wasn't the only one, both Snape and Karkaroff looked livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.

"Well, shall we crack on then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling. "Got to give our champions their instructions haven't we? Barty, want to give the honors?" Mr. Crouch seemed to come out of a deep reverie.

"Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes… the first task… The first task is to test your daring. So we are not going to tell you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard… very important…

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.

"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help from any of their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge with only their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-the-year tests."

He turned to Dumbledore.

"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"

"I think so," said Dumbledore. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay here at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"

"No, Dumbledore, I must get back to the Ministry. It is very busy, very difficult time at the moment… I've left young Weatherby in charge… Very enthusiastic… a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told…"

"You'll come and have a drink before you go, at least?"

"Come on, Barty, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here then at the office!"

"I think not, Ludo," he said, with a touch of his old impatience.

"Professor Karkaroff – Madame Maxime – Amy – a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.

But Karkaroff and Krum were already walking out the door in silence. Madame Maxime said something in French to Amanda, who wavered on her feet but she shook her head.

"I'm sorry Dumbledore," she said, "another time perhaps." She and Madame Maxime led Fleur from the room, speaking rapidly in French. Severus followed soon after, retreating to the darkness of the dungeons once more.

The days passed quickly and Amanda found herself sitting at the house tables just like she had all those years ago, enjoying conversations with the children of the friends she had in school. Many of them wrote to their parents and soon Amanda was showered by letters demanding to know where she'd been, and why she hadn't written in all these years.

Amanda also developed a sympathy for Potter; no one believed that he hadn't put his name in the goblet. Add to that the fact that Cedric looked the part so much more then he did and one couldn't help but feel sorry for the messy haired Gryffindor.

During much of the day Amanda was kept busy teaching her students, classes would continue even if they weren't in their own school. They were having the most difficulty with potions, having not been able to bring all the necessary ingredients and materials with them. And so a few days after the feast Amanda found herself going to the dungeons to talk to Snape, hoping he would allow them to use his classroom when he was done.

She had just rounded the corner when something barreled into her, it was a sobbing girl. The girl had frizzy ginger hair and was covering her mouth with her teeth. Amanda knelt down.

"Come now, move your hands, let me see." The whimpering girl slowly moved her hands, showing teeth that were growing down past her chin. Amanda waved her wand, muttering under her breath, and the growing stopped.

"Hospital wing, you'll have to get Pomfrey to resize those." She looked up to see just the man she had come down to see and his class staring at her. "Is that a normal occurrence, you know, something new they've added?" she asked, gesturing in the direction the crying girl had run off in.

"Miss Grangers teeth are so large one could easily mistake her for a beaver under the best of circumstances," he said smoothly. At his words two boys, one of whom Amanda recognized to be Potter, started yelling at the Professor in rage at what he had said about their friend. It was impossible to tell exactly what they were calling him, as the words echoed in the stone hallway so much, but Snape seemed to get the idea.

"Let's see," he said, in a silky voice. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and a detention each fro Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a weeks worth of detentions."

The boys marched inside, followed by the rest of there class and Snape. Amanda followed more slowly, shaking her head.

Severus started his class without even acknowledging her presence, perhaps hoping that she would just go away. Having expected something of the sort, Amanda just sat down on an unused table and stared at him brightly, ignoring the students who kept glancing back at her curiously.

"Professor McGonagall, why are you in my class?" Severus asked when he could no longer pretend not to see her.

"Do I need a reason to visit my favorite potions teacher, who just so happens to have an empty potions classroom he doesn't need between his first and third hours?" she said sweetly. His face remained blank.

"No."

"So we are agreed I don't need a reason. Now about that room…"

"No."

"There's not that many of us, we'll clean it up."

Severus's class mentally cringed, while the Slytherin side grinned smugly, this foreigner obviously didn't know much about their Potions Professor. They waited for the insults to start.

"No," he repeated.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want a bunch of snot-nosed, foreign brats running around in my class, supervised only by a stupid little past-Gryffindor _girl_," he retorted sharply.

"Don't you feel better, having said that?" she said, still smiling. The Slytherins were shocked, why hadn't she gotten angry, or run away in tears like everyone else?

"No," he said simply. Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes.

"You little – you're just trying to annoy me."

"Is it working?"

"It was," she said, and folded her arms. "Well done, you managed to annoy _me_. What an accomplishment," she added sarcastically. "You must feel so _proud_."

"Will you get out of my classroom so I can teach now?" he said, with slight exasperation.

"Do I get the room?"

"Yes," he sighed.

"Yes!"

"Get out!"

"Have a good day, Professor!" she called, having already swept out. Harry stared after her in shock, the woman had seemed so gloomy the other day, and now she was so happy she could leave Snape's class smiling, and wishing him a good day! There was something strange about the younger McGonagall.

"Antidotes!" said Snape, knocking him out of his reverie. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then, we shall be selecting someone on whom to test one…"

Snape's eyes met Harry's, and Harry knew what was coming, Snape was going to poison _him_. Harry imagined picking up his cauldron, and sprinting to the front of class, and bringing it down on his greasy head –

A knock on the door interrupted Harry's thoughts. It was Collin Creevey; he edged into the classroom, beaming at Harry, and walked up to Snape's desk at the front of the room.

"Yes?" said Snape curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

"Potter has another hour of potions to complete," said Snape coldly. "He will come upstairs when this class is finished.

"Sir – Sir, Mr. Bagman wants him. All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…"

"Very well, very well," Snape snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please, sir – He's got to take his things with him, all the champions-"

"Very _well_!" said Snape. "Potter – take your things and get out of my sight!" Harry swung his bag over his shoulder and left as quickly as possible.

Outside the door, Professor McGonagall, the younger, was waiting for them.

"Thank you Mr. Creevey, you may go now," she said.

"Good luck, Harry." Collin called as he raced away. Harry looked at the Professor in confusion.

"Why didn't you just –" she shrugged.

"I'd already made a deal to leave. Besides, Mr. Creevey was eavesdropping anyways. And one can only annoy Severus so much in an hour before things turn ugly."

"Uglier," Harry muttered as they started walking.

"Please do not insult the staff of this school within earshot of me; it is hazardous to your health." Harry laughed but quickly realized she wasn't joking when her cold eyes turned on him.

"How do you know Snape?"

"_Professor_ Snape and I went to school together, and his first year of teaching was during my seventh year."

"So that means you went to school with my father," Harry said, hoping she could tell him about his father.

"Alas, your father and I did not get along and were often at odds with each other."

"But I thought Snape said you were in Gryffindor."

"_Professor_ Snape, please. And yes, I was," she said indifferently.

"And when you sit with the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs, you recognize the parents of people over there all the time."

"Just because I was a Gryffindor doesn't mean I wasn't friends with people from other houses as well," she said.

They separated then, as they had reached the right room. It was a small classroom, with most of the desks pushed against the far wall. Behind several desks covered in velvet sat five chairs, Ludo was sitting in one and talking to a witch Harry had never seen before.

Viktor was standing in a corner, looking moody and not talking to anybody like usual. Cedric and Fleur were talking animatedly, with Fleur looking a lot happier then normal. A paunchy looking man, holding a large camera, was glancing between Fleur and Amanda rapidly before finally settling on staring at both out of the corners of his eyes.

Amanda went to sit in a corner away from everybody and began reading a book she'd brought with her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rita Skeeter walk out, pulling Harry with her. Amanda noticed the woman shove Harry into a broom cupboard and stored the information away before returning to her book.

It wasn't long before the judges appeared. They each immediately went to stand with their champions, but Dumbledore looked around, confused.

"Has anyone seen Harry? Or, for that matter, Rita Skeeter?" he asked.

"I believe you will find them both in a cupboard just across the hall," Amanda said, not looking up from her book. Dumbledore left, only to return with a very relieved looking Harry and a flustered looking Rita Skeeter a moment later.

"May I introduce Mr. Olivander?" said Dumbledore, taking his seat at the judges table. "He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament."

Mr. Olivander was an old looking wizard with large, pale eyes. Amanda could remember getting her wand from him around eighteen years ago.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first please?" said Mr. Olivander, stepping into the empty space in the middle of the room. Fleur swept over to Mr. Olivander and handed him her wand.

Mr. Olivander looked over every inch of the wand before producing a banquet of flowers from it and moving on to the next wand. He checked Cedric's, Viktor's, and finally Harry's, pronouncing them all to be in excellent condition.

Next they had to take pictures, which ended up being more challenging and time consuming then the wand weighing itself. Madame Maxime cast everyone else into shadow no matter where she stood, and the photographer couldn't stand back far enough to get her into the frame; eventually she had to sit while everyone else stood around her. Karkaroff kept twirling his goatee around his finger to give it extra curl and Krum sulked, half-hidden at the back of the group. Rita and the camera man kept getting into small disputes, Rita trying to pull Harry to the front, and the camera man trying to put Fleur, who was happy to oblige, in front. And then the whole thing had to be redone once Rita noticed Amanda sitting in the corner.

"Professor McGonagall, could you 'old my cloak for a moment?" asked Fleur. Rita looked confused.

"McGonagall? As in Minerva McGonagall? I thought she was older," said Rita, confused.

"Minerva is my mother," said Amanda quietly.

"She iz ze deputy headmistress for Beauxbatons," Madame Maxime supplied grandly.

"Oh really? The daughter of Hogwarts' strict, Deputy Headmistress leaving to become the Deputy Headmistress for a rival school. Family tension, perhaps?"

"No," Amanda replied simply.

"You simply must be in the picture!" Rita squealed.

"I am neither champion, nor judge, and therefore do not belong in that picture."

Rita overrode her objections and practically dragged Amanda over to the group. After the picture could finally be taken, Rita insisted of single shots of all the champions and judges, including Amanda. Then, at last, they were free to go.


	15. Secrets Partially Revealed

Four days later Rita had published her article, not about the tournament though. Her article was more of a detailed life story about Harry, and a long drawn out speculation about the relationship between the McGonagalls.

Amanda was sitting at the breakfast table when it came out, feeling irritated already. An owl swooped down and dropped the paper in front of her.

"Have you seen that yet today?" Severus asked, eying the paper as if it might explode.

"Obviously not, else wise I wouldn't need this one would I?" Amanda said.

"You're not going to like it," he warned. Amanda looked at him suspiciously before opening it up; normally he would have given her a sharp remark. Harry's picture stared up at her from the front page.

"Well I can see how I might not be thrilled with _that_ staring at me, but I hardly see why you'd need to warn me about it."

"Try page two." Amanda flipped and found her own irritated face staring up at her. Underneath was an article labeled, _Family Competition? Or a Cry for Attention?_

_Amanda McGonagall, the unknown child. For years she was kept out of sight and hidden away from the wizarding world by her mother, the elder McGonagall and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. When asked, old students of Hogwarts said they couldn't remember ever having heard about the child, in fact, they didn't even know their professor had even had a child until the girl showed up at school one year._

_But once at school the younger McGonagall quickly outstripped all the other students, pulling top marks in all of her classes and receiving heavy praise from all her teachers, except, sources say, from one, her own mother. From the moment she arrived at Hogwarts no student could ever remember Professor McGonagall ever praising her daughter, only dishing out harsher punishments. Feeling neglected, the young McGonagall pushed herself even harder, often studying until she fell ill and had to spend time in the Hospital Wing to recuperate. And even that wasn't enough to get the much needed praise of her mother._

_Having failed to get even a simple congratulation from her mother at graduation, Amanda could be seen fleeing Hogwarts, to an unknown destination, perhaps somewhere where she would feel wanted._

_And now the young McGonagall has returned, now Deputy Headmistress of a rival school, here to show her mother what she is worth._

Amanda scowled in disgust and threw down the paper, not bothering to read the rest. Severus watched, waiting to see what she would say.

"What a load of tripe."

"Half of its true," he said, shrugging.

"Half of anything is nearly true," she snapped. "You know why I was in the hospital wing so much; it had nothing to do with my study habits. You know why she never talked to students about her life, it would have been unprofessional. Yes I left, but not to 'find somewhere where I would feel wanted.' And I became Deputy Headmistress because the Headmaster who hired me died and Madame Maxime thought I could do a good job. I'm only here because she felt it would be a good place to rest."

"Rest from what?" he asked. Amanda froze for a moment, before relaxing.

"I told you I had been unwell."

"But you never said why."

"And I'm not going to now. If you'll excuse me, I have to take care of something." She got up and strode quickly to Dumbledore, taking her mothers seat as she wasn't there yet.

"Have you read the Prophet, yet today?" she inquired, barley holding back the disgust in her voice.

"No, but from the look on your face I'd gather that you're mentioned once or twice."

"I wish," she said, "no, I have a whole _page_. Rita decided to speculate on the relationship between my dearest mother and I." Dumbledore frowned and held out his hand, quickly reading the indicated page.

"How much of this is true?" he asked when he had finished.

"I was in the hospital wing a lot, and I studied hard. I did leave and I am back, although the reasoning's a bit off. I'll have to ask Madame Maxime if she wanted me to come so I could show up my mother, forget the fact that she didn't even know who my mother was, let alone worked here."

"Don't forget the bit about studying yourself ragged." he added.

"What?" she asked, blinking in surprise at his addition.

"I didn't miss how your health deteriorated while you were here, or how your near perfect work in Transfiguration was always heavily criticized." He looked at her gravely. "And don't think I haven't noticed now. Forgive me for pointing it out, my dear, but you have always harbored gravity defying bags under your lovely eyes."

Amanda didn't know what to say to that, so she ignored it and moved on to a different matter.

"Do you think she's seen it yet?" she finally asked.

"I'd say so, he said, looking past her, "or Peeves has just destroyed her office again."

Professor McGonagall had just entered, in all her thin lipped fury. She strode over to them, glaring at her daughter in anger.

"What is the meaning of this?" she said coldly.

"_Do not_ stand there and think that I would have anything to do with this filth," Amanda replied, her voice dripping with venom. Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore looked rather taken aback by the malice in her voice.

"How much of this is true?" The woman asked after the shock wore off.

"Why do people keep asking me that?" Amanda said angrily. "I was in the hospital wing a lot because I had this magical ability to get myself injured. I studied a lot to get good grades. I left because it was time to leave and I became a teacher because I wanted to teach. And I didn't _ask_ to be here. Madame Maxime wanted me to come, otherwise, I would be back there, _teaching_, right now!"

"And the rest of it?" asked Minerva.

"That's the bit where they're talking about you, so only you would know." Amanda said, avoiding the question.

At that moment Madame Maxime entered, enraged on behalf of her Deputy Headmistress.

"'Ow dare zat 'orrible woman write such a 'ideous thing like zis!" she boomed, loud enough for the whole hall to hear, and waving her arm angrily.

"So I take it you don't believe a word of it, Madame Maxime," Karkaroff said, adding himself to the conversation smoothly.

"Of course it is not true; zis woman is nothing but a fraud!"

"I am inclined to agree with you, Madame Maxime, as she did not write about the _champions_ at all, just mentioned them like a foot note," he said.

Luckily for Amanda, the whole school had heard Madame Maxime's outrage, meaning that they all dismissed the article about their esteemed Professor and her daughter. Harry, on the other hand, had no such luck. People constantly quoted the article about his life at him, nearly all of it lies.

Amanda became his greatest defender, next to Hermione, and Amanda didn't even know him that well.

"Stunningly pretty? Her?" shrieked Pansy Parkington. "What was she judging against – a chipmunk?"

"Want a hanky, Potter? In case you start crying in Transfiguration?" shouted Draco. Amanda walked up behind them.

"Draco Malfoy, if I'm not mistaken?" said Amanda. Draco spun around to face her. "While I'm sure your father has no problem at all with you insulting Potter and Granger, I'm sure you have your reasons, I am, however, quite certain he would be absolutely furious if you were to get caught and punished for it."

"You know nothing of my father, you filthy little ingrate. And you can't punish me, you aren't a teacher here! You're nothing but a washed out Professor who can't even be left in charge of the school she works at. You're weak, and pathetic." Amanda smirked.

"Dear old Lucius? I'm afraid I know more about him then you do. Why don't you write him a letter, telling him what you think of me, see what he says," she said, motioning for Hermione and Harry to follow her out. "Tell him I said 'Hi.'"

Once around the corner Harry and Hermione bombarded her with questions.

"What are you going to do when he write his father?" Harry asked. She just shrugged.

"Laugh."

"But what about Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione said nervously.

"Good old Lucius? He'll be the reason I'm laughing. If, that is, Draco actually writes him."

"But –" Harry started.

"Leave it, and get to class," she said sternly. They ran off quickly.

Two days later, Amanda got the laugh she had been waiting for. She was quietly sipping her coffee next to Severus at the head table when an owl flew down to Draco. Amanda had written to Lucius after Harry and Hermione had gone to class, informing him that his son hadn't learned to stay out of trouble. The elder Malfoy had written back immediately, telling her to wait.

The younger Malfoy stared at the owl in front of him in shock, it had a red envelope. The owl hastily flew off and Draco paled, quickly realizing what was going to happen, but not quickly enough. The letter started smoking at the edges before exploding, with Lucius's voice ringing out in the previously silent hall.

"HOW DARE YOU DISGRACE OUR FAMILY NAME WITH YOUR INCOMPETANCE? YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, SPEAK TO ANYONE, IN THE DISGRACEFUL MANNER IN WHICH YOU SPOKE TO PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL! SHE MAY NOT HAVE THE POWER TO PUNISH YOU, _BUT I_ _DO_!"

The words echoed around the hall until people started to laugh at the now ghostly pale and shocked looking boy. He turned to look up at the head table, where Professor McGonagall, the younger, nodded and raised her glass to him, smiling ever so slightly.

Severus turned to Amanda, as had most of the head table, after they had ascertained that it wasn't the elder Professor McGonagall the letter had been talking about. She looked up at them after they'd already been staring for a moment or two.

"Well, that last sentence may have gone a bit over the top, obviously I _did _punish him," she said casually, "but I think the boy got the gist of it."

They gaped, and Dumbledore tried to hold in a chuckle. After a moment they returned to their breakfast, all except Severus.

"How did you manage _that_?" he asked in disbelief.

"Even Lucius needed help during finals; he owes me, a lot actually. So if Draco doesn't get the hint, I can do it again. Good old Lucius already agreed," she said, smiling happily.

"What did the unfortunate child say to incur your wrath?"

"He was rude, and one must never be rude. To be rude without cause is to be the weakest form of pathetic."

"And you're not rude sometimes?" he teased.

"I never said I wasn't weak, just that one should always have a good reason to be rude. And I usually don't start it."

"I didn't mean to say you were rude, or weak," he said quickly.

"Oh, thank you. You, however, must have one hell of a reason to be the way you are. I must say, you can be quite vicious sometimes."

"What makes you think I'm not just weak?"

She gave him a look that plainly said he was crazy.

"Neither the time, nor the place to go into why I think that," she said. "But you're not weak, or pathetic. So if you'll excuse me, I must attend to my students. Have a good day, Severus."

She left him to ponder what she'd said until the bell rang and he had to hurry back down to the dungeons for class.

The weekend came and went, and neither Severus, nor Amanda went out. On Tuesday they spent some time in the library reading for a while after lessons and then separated, Amanda saying she wanted to go down to the lake.

Later that evening Severus found that he'd accidentally walked off with her book, and she had his. Needing his book for the next morning's class he decided to find her and exchange them. But when Severus got to the lake she wasn't there. He frowned and walked along the edge, heading deeper into the forest, thinking she might have gone down that way. After several minutes of searching Severus gave up, deciding she'd gone back inside and turned around to go back to the castle.

He was met by a low growl. Something hurtled at him from the trees, knocking him to the ground and causing his wand to fly out of his hand. A werewolf snarled in his face before opening its mouth to take a chunk of his flesh. There was another growl and suddenly the werewolf was off him. Severus sat up and looked around. There was another wolf, a real one, locking jaws with the werewolf.

It was huge, and fierce. Its pelt shone pure white in the moonlight. Only a long dark scar marred the wolf's perfect fur, black and running the full length of its stomach.

The white wolf lunged, suddenly latching on to the werewolf's leg and biting down, hard. The werewolf let out a howl of pain. The two snarled, scratched and bit at each other while Severus tried to find his wand. With a sudden spurt of speed the second wolf had the other on its back, its claws digging into the werewolf's belly. The werewolf howled once more and fled into the forest, the white one tailing it.

Severus climbed to his feet, having found his wand, and hurried out of the forest. He was almost out when he heard snarling. The first werewolf, still bleeding, had returned, along with another one, still fresh. They spread out around him and got ready to attack. At the same time the two werewolves lunged, several things happened at once.

Severus sent a stunning spell at the new one, causing it to bounce back and shake its head. At the same time the white wolf reappeared, catching the other one in mid air and sending them both tumbling into the ground. Now all the wolves were fighting at once, leaving Severus with no clear shot.

The first werewolf was finally sent howling into the forest after the wolf had managed to hang onto its shoulder and dig into it's with its claws. The other werewolf followed soon after, bleeding heavily. The white wolf stood for a moment, blood running down its legs and staining its muzzle, before it too, limped into the forest.

Severus turned to leave, but another noise from the forest stopped him. A figure stepped out, clutching their stomach. It was Amanda. She strode over to him, arms folded across her stomach and a small trickle of blood running from her mouth still.

"ARE YOU BLOODY STUPID?" she shouted. "What could possible have made you go down to the Forbidden Forest on a _full_ moon? You of all people should know better!"

She was breathing heavily and bent over slightly, still clutching her stomach.

"I could say the same thing to you! What were you doing out here?"

"Looking out for you!" she cried indignantly.

"I could have handled myself!" he shouted angrily.

"Oh yes, you were doing a marvelous job with a _werewolf_ on top of you!" An added pain to her stomach had Amanda almost bent double, panting.

"Are you okay?" he asked, previous anger forgotten.

Amanda was shaking, there was sweat on her brow and the coupled with her pale skin she had the appearance of a ghost. She nodded, too out of breath to speak properly. A moment later she collapsed, her legs giving out on her. Severus caught her and held her to him for support.

"I'll take that as a no."

"I'm… just tired…" she said, trying to catch her breath.

"Oh is that all?" he said sarcastically.

He lifted her into his arms, her head resting on his shoulder and set off, back around the forest. Amanda protested feebly but he ignored her.

"Look, you obviously aren't in a state to _walk_ anywhere. Besides, you weigh so little that you're hardly noticeable."

She stopped trying to protest after that and settled her head on his shoulder, her forehead pressed against his neck lightly. They walked around the lake in silence for a few minutes.

"How did you know where to find me?" Severus asked.

"I was tending to the horses and saw you walk into the forest. I'd almost caught up to you when I heard the snarling," she said, sounding half asleep.

"How long have you been an animagus?"

"I finished it my first Christmas after leaving."

"And you didn't tell me?" Severus pretended to be hurt.

"No one knows. Please, don't tell anyone. I'm not even registered."

Her voice was pleading and Severus sighed, he couldn't tease her when she was like this.

"I won't."

They returned to silence for awhile. When they passed the Beauxbatons carriage without stopping Amanda stirred again.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To the Hospital Wing, I should think that were obvious." Amanda looked up at him.

"I just need to rest a little. There's no need to bother Pomfrey with this." When Severus didn't react she started to squirm in his grip, trying to get free. "Severus, don't," she pleaded. "Please." He stopped walking.

"What do you have against the hospital wing?" he asked in exasperation.

"I don't want to go back," she said, a slight edge of hysteria in her voice.

He sighed loudly and turned around, heading back to the carriage. Amanda relaxed once again.

"Thank you," she said, sounding truly relieved. He just grunted and kept walking, wondering why she was suddenly afraid of the hospital wing. When they got within a few feet of the carriage the door was flung open and Madame Maxime stepped out.

"What 'as 'appened?" she asked.

"I collapsed; Severus was kind enough to walk me back. Or rather, carry." Amanda said before Severus could speak. Madame Maxime sighed.

"I told you not to check ze 'orses tonight," she said.

Madame Maxime reached out and plucked Amanda out of his arms, holding her carefully in her large hands. Severus was struck by how fragile Amanda looked, cradled in Madame Maxime's giant hands, which could crush her tiny body easily if they were not careful. He wondered what had happened to her, she had always seemed so strong when they were young.

"Thank you, Severus," Amanda said quietly. He nodded and left, sweeping back to the castle.

Inside the carriage was a lot larger then it appeared from the outside, it was warmly lit and beautifully decorated in the same style as the Beauxbatons castle. It looked clean and tidy, and was brightly decorated in golds, purples, and blues; the carriage looked like the inside of a palace.

Madame Maxime and Amanda started conversing rapidly in French.

"Did you tell him?" asked Madame Maxime in French.

"No."

"Have you told anybody?"

"No."

"You should tell them, they are your family," Maxime pressed.

"No offense, but please understand that _you_ wouldn't know if I had not been unconscious at the time." Amanda replied, still in flawless French.

Madame Maxime sighed and started walking towards the back where their rooms were. Along the way, students who had stayed up late or had just woken up leaned out of their doors to see what was going on.

"Shouldn't you all be doing something right now?" asked Amanda, still in French but now sounding irritated. "Sleeping, perhaps?" she growled.

One of the braver students stepped all the way out of his room.

"Are you alright, Professor McGonagall?"

"What a foolish question, Philip, of course I'm alright, else wise I would be a little less irritated that you had not gone to bed and instead stood there asking foolish questions." The students still in the hallway snickered, they knew she wasn't angry, but went to bed all the same. Madame Maxime chuckled.

"I have never understood how you can be so mean and yet they love you."

"Easy, so long as they pretend to like me I won't hold any of them back a year."

"You couldn't do that anyways," Maxime reminded her.

"They don't know that."

Madame Maxime laughed again and pushed open the door to her room. Amanda's room had originally been built as a walk in closet for Madame Maxime, so it was already huge, but when Madame Maxime had decided to bring Amanda along they had expanded it and added another door leading to the bathroom.

Madame Maxime set her gently on the bed and used her wand to start running water for a bath. Maxime helped Amanda remove her outer robes until she was standing in an undershirt and shorts.

"You're bleeding." Madame Maxime exclaimed when Amanda stood before her. The young professor was shaking, and blood dripped down her legs and arms, there was a pool of it around her stomach, making her shirt stick to her. Amanda cringed.

"I was in the forest."

"You of all people should know better then to be running around in a forest filled with werewolves," Maxime admonished, helping Amanda walk over to the tub.

Amanda waited until Madame Maxime had walked out and closed the door before shedding her clothes and sliding into the bath. She let the warm water reach the base of her skull before turning the water off and simply enjoying the heat for awhile. After a few minutes soak Amanda began to vigorously wash the blood off her arms, legs and stomach.

She stayed in the bath long after she was clean, periodically refilling the tub with hot, clean water. She basked in the warmth, listening to the sounds of the sleeping carriage. She could never sleep during the full moon, and not until it had disappeared behind the trees for the night would she be able to slip into unconsciousness. So she waited for morning, waiting for sleep to carry her into blissful oblivion.

**Probably the last chapter today, just so you all know. What do you think of it though?**


	16. Things don't change

"You'll be fine. Just remember what you've always practiced, and _don't panic_. Mr. Bagman will give you your instructions," she told Fleur.

Amanda had escorted Fleur to the Champions tent and was just giving her a last minute bit of advice. The young girl looked up at her apprehensively and Amanda nodded towards the tent. She watched Fluer disappear inside and walked back towards the forest, but stopped when she heard her mother talking to Harry just outside the tent flap.

"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky voice, "and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there… he'll be telling you the – the procedure…. Good luck."

"Thanks" Harry said, and went inside, leaving Professor McGonagall standing outside, looking worried. Amanda sighed and walked over; she couldn't leave her mother looking like this.

"He'll be alright you know," she said.

Minerva spun around quickly, looking shocked.

"What?" she said.

"He'll be alright," Amanda repeated. "He's got a plan; I've seen him and Miss. Granger practicing in empty classrooms. If he's anything like his father, Potter has this one in the bag. He's got a good chance to win this. Whoever put his name in the Goblet obviously failed to realize who he'd been taught by."

"That's very kind of you Amanda."

"No, it's true," she said, smiling. "He's got Dumbledore, Flitwick, Snape… if only he'd had good transfiguration teacher. I can't even remember who teaches that here at Hogwarts. You wouldn't happen to remember would you?"

"I see you've lost none of your cheek while you've been away."

"Come on, let's get a seat near the medical tent, that way we'll be able to see our champions after they've collected their eggs."

The two McGonagalls entered the arena together. Minerva looking a lot happier then she had a moment ago, no longer quite as worried as before and Amanda smiling reassuringly. They found seats behind the judge's panel and a moment later Severus joined them. Professor McGonagall looked a little surprised.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Severus," she said.

"Why miss the opportunity to see Potter risk his neck for _more_ fame?" Minerva went white and Amanda scowled, glaring at Severus.

"I just calmed her down and go and say _that_?" she whispered harshly. He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm rather surprised to see you here, Amy, after last night…" Amanda glared fiercely.

"What about last night?" The elder McGonagall asked, worried. Amanda felt like a small child trying not to get in trouble when one of her friends was threatening to tell.

"I fell down… and hurt my arm." It wasn't exactly a lie, she'd fallen, several times, just with a werewolf on her, and her arm was hurt, as was her other arm, and her legs. Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes; not believing that was all there was to it.

Nothing more could be said, however, as the crowd had suddenly erupted into cheers, deafening them. Amanda joined in enthusiastically, glad of the distraction. Cedric had just entered the arena. A moment later his dragon was brought out, the Swedish Short-Snout.

Cedric's face was grey, and Amanda briefly wondered how Amos felt about his son competing in the possibly deadly tournament. The blue-grey dragon erased such thoughts from her mind, however, by advancing slowly on Cedric. The boy stood, frozen, for a moment, before finally moving into action.

He started chanting a spell, waving his wand at a rock on the ground. Amanda smiled when she realized what he was doing.

"Smart move, Diggory," she whispered.

Severus raised an eyebrow at her not quite knowing what was going on yet. A moment later the crowd gasped in realization as the rock began transforming. When Cedric stepped back, a large dog stood where the rock had once been. The dog started barking furiously and running around. The dragon turned her great eyes from Cedric to the dog, moving forward, trying to catch it a corner. Cedric edged around the dragon swiftly, trying to get to the egg before she realized what he was doing.

When Cedric was a mere thirty yards from the egg the dragon turned and saw him. With a roar she turned her sinuous body around and launched herself at Cedric. But it was too late; Cedric had started running as soon as she'd started turning her head. She shot a fireball at the boy and he vanished, behind a wall of flames. The crowd screamed and craned their necks to see if the boy was alright. A moment later Cedric emerged, holding the egg victoriously in one arm, the other looked rather badly burned. Dragon handlers swarmed the field, trying to get control of the enraged beast, and Cedric was led away.

The judges held up their wands and the crowed stared, waiting to see what score he would get. Madame Maxime went first, shooting a large silvery seven into the air. Next was Mr. Crouch, who also shot a seven, followed by Dumbledore, also a seven and Ludo Bagman, who gave Cedric a five, and finally Karkaroff. He held up his wand and a four shot out, the crowed roared in protest but the judges' word was final. All in all Cedric got thirty-one points.

"See, you've obviously done a wonderful job with Amos's son, that Labrador wasn't even rock colored."

Severus raised another eyebrow so Amanda explained.

"I kept getting rock colored violins; it took me days to figure out why."

Her mother looked a little calmer while they waited to see who would be next.

A moment later Fleur and her dragon, the Welsh Green, entered. Fleur wasted no time before starting her spell. She pointed her wand at the dragon and started chanting quickly. The dragons head lowered, staring straight at Fleur. Then its body followed until the dragon was on all fours, swaying and staring at Fleur without blinking.

Fleur started walking towards the dragon, her wand held out. She walked around it, never turning her back from its head, and it followed her every move without moving more then its neck and head. Fleur was getting closer and closer to the eggs when the dragon made a weird noise. It rose up and shook its head a little. Fleur and the rest of the crowd were confused, what was going on? A moment later the dragon snorted, dispelling a large fireball straight for Fleur.

She dodged but it still managed to catch her skirt on fire. Fleur ignored it for a moment and ran over to the eggs, grabbing the golden egg before the dragon could turn back to her. The dragon handlers rushed out onto the field again as Fleur put her skirt out with her wand.

Amanda rose from her seat.

"I must see to my student, I'll be right back." She dashed off to the medical tent. Fleur was standing just inside, smearing orange goo on her leg.

"That was very well done Fleur." The highest praise she'd ever given, Amanda rarely praised anyone. "How's your leg?"

"Eet stings a little, but eet vill be fine."

Fleur finished and stepped outside, waiting to see her score. Amanda spotted Cedric sitting on a bed, struggling to smear the same goo on his back, and wincing when he had to move.

"Diggory, why don't I give you a hand with that?"

He smiled, relieved, and handed her a small pot. She grimaced at the smell, but grabbed a large glob and smeared it liberally across his burn.

"Smells bloody awful," Cedric said.

"Oh good, I was starting to think I was the only one who could smell it," she said. "Did you get to see your score?"

"They already gave them out?" he asked, shocked.

"We're waiting on Fleur's now; you scored rather well, I think, thirty-one." She finished up and left, sprinting up to her seat between Severus and Professor McGonagall. Severus wrinkled his nose.

"What's that smell?"

"Whatever you concocted for them to use on burns."

He grimaced, waving his wand and dispelling the last of the goo from her hand.

"Thanks."

They waited again to see what the judges would make of it. The judges proceeded in the same order as last time, Madame Maxime shot up a large nine, followed by Mr. Crouches seven, Dumbledore's eight, Ludo's eight, and Karkaroff's six. Fleur got thirty-eight.

"Well done, where did she learn that spell?" asked Severus.

"Conveniently the last thing I taught her before Winter break last year," Amanda said, proud of her students score.

Next was Krum. He quickly fired spells at his dragon, eventually hitting it in the eye. The dragon roared, blinded and Krum ran to the eggs. Unfortunately the dragon started stomping around, trying to step on him and it ended up crushing several of the real eggs before Krum managed to get the gold egg and the handlers could calm the dragon down. His had to be the fastest time so far, and the judges seemed to take this into consideration when they graded him.

Madame Maxime shot a silvery seven in the air, Mr. Crouch, a seven, Dumbledore also sent up a seven, Bagman nine, and Karkaroff ten. Krum finished with forty.

Last were Harry and the Hungarian Horntail. Harry stepped into the arena and stuck his wand in the air, shouting a spell. At first nothing happened and some people in the crowd snickered. The snickering stopped and the cheering renewed with even more ferocity when a broomstick zoomed onto the field and Harry climbed on. He flew high into the air and the dragon shot a fireball at him. Harry looped around the fireball as if it where nothing more then a bludger and started to weave, zigzagging high in the air above the dragon. Amanda chuckled quietly.

"He is his father's son, that much is for sure," she whispered.

The dragon reached out and managed to nick his shoulder with her claws before he was up again, too high for her to reach. Her neck strained as she tried to get high enough to get him. He swerved around, baiting her, tantalizing, but too far away. And then she reared, rising to her full height and extending her neck. But Harry wasn't there, he was speeding towards the now unprotected eggs, he took his hands off the broom and nabbed an egg, quickly soaring out of reach again.

Minerva was out of her seat in an instant, running over to where Harry would be landing. Amanda watched her mother exclaim over what a good job he'd done and then become worried, pointing to his shoulder. She felt a pang of jealousy, watching how much her mother fawned over this boy, when she'd never done any such thing for Amanda.

Severus saw her watching them but he couldn't see the jealousy hidden behind her eyes.

"She stopped praising as heavily, you know, after you left."

"Did she know why I left?" Amanda asked.

"No," he sighed. "I didn't tell her, and neither did Dumbledore."

The judges put their wands into the air for the last time, Madame Maxime, eight, Mr. Crouch, nine, Dumbledore, nine, Bagman, ten, and finally, Karkaroff, four. Having seen his score, Amanda stood up briskly.

"I think I'll go back inside now, its chilly."

Severus thought her voice was twice as chilly as the air but he didn't say anything, merely nodded as she walked away. Amanda was half way back to the carriage when a voice stopped her, it was her mother.

"Amanda, I've been wanting to speak to you," she said, catching up. "Do you mind if we step into the castle?"

Amanda eyed the large crowd heading into the castle.

"How about we step into the carriage instead? It's closer, and there isn't a schools worth of people going into it at the moment."

Professor McGonagall nodded and they stepped into the carriage. Minerva looked around, appreciative of the spacious and warm interior. Amanda led her into the back rooms and they each took a seat on her bed.

"What did you want to talk about?" Amanda asked, feeling that this wasn't going to go in a direction she was comfortable with.

"Two things, actually. I was wondering about your disappearances, from Hogwarts, and then the sudden disappearance of your letters."

Amanda sighed, she had been afraid her mother would ask that. She stared at the floor for several minutes, trying to figure out what to say.

"I already told you, I was unwell," she said.

"For almost a year?" Minerva said skeptically.

"That's what Severus said, and I will tell you the same thing I told him. You can either believe me, or you can't, it doesn't make it any less true."

"That doesn't tell me why you left."

Amanda thought for a moment.

"What do you think about this carriage?" she finally asked. Her mother looked confused but looked around anyways.

"Its rather dark, not enough windows."

"Fleur, my student, what did you think of her?"

"She would have done better had the dragon not managed to set her skirt on fire."

"And me being Deputy Headmistress, how do you feel about that?"

"It's a lot of work; you will have to be constantly on the watch for misbehavior."

"I've had the job for well over five years now."

"You should have told me when you wrote. You and Madame Maxime seem to be very close."

Amanda sighed and sat back further on the bed. Her temporary home was too dark, she hadn't taught her student how to duck, she didn't write often enough, and she was Deputy Headmistress because she was close to the Headmistress, sounded like her mother hadn't changed much. She could hear the rest of Beauxbatons returning from the arena.

"You should probably start heading back to the castle, it will be dark soon," she said quietly, standing up. "Besides, I'm sure your students are tearing the Gryffindor common room to pieces as they celebrate." Professor McGonagall looked confused and stood up.

"You haven't answered any of my questions, only gone on about some none-sense about this carriage," she said. A moment later the door opened to reveal a very excited looking Madame Maxime.

"I did not realize…" she started to close the door.

"It's alright; I was just about to show Professor McGonagall to the door." Amanda swept out and looked back at her mothers shocked expression. "If you will kindly follow me," she said.

Professor McGonagall strode out behind her, lips pressed into a thin line.

One of Amanda's students called out something in French to her, and Amanda scowled darkly.

"What have we talked about, Elizabeth? Why did you learn English?"

"I'm sorry Professor; I just wanted to know what you thought of the competition."

"They played extremely well, don't you think, Professor?" she asked, turning slightly to look at Professor McGonagall.

"It's a miracle none of them were hurt more seriously," she said, frowning slightly. Amanda nodded and then opened the door.

"Would you like someone to escort you to the castle?" she asked stiffly.

"I think I can manage," Minerva said, just as coldly.

"I'll leave the light on," she said callously.

"Good night," replied Minerva frostily.

"Pleasant dreams," she offered bitterly.

"I will see you at breakfast," McGonagall said harshly.

"Miss you already," she replied, with malice in her voice.

Professor McGonagall swept off the steps, her head held high as she marched up to the castle. Amanda waited until the woman was well away from the carriage before slamming the door shut. The temperature had seemed to drop a few degrees with every word that had come out of her or her mother's mouth. She turned around and saw students staring at her curiously, several of them looking concerned.

"**BEDS. NOW."**

When she spoke it was with such cold finality that the students raced as quickly as they could to their beds, not even caring that they should be celebrating with their champion. Amanda stalked back to her room and paced. Madame Maxime sat on her bed, watching her distressed Professor pace. After a few moments, when Amanda had not calmed down, Madame Maxime spoke.

"I did not realize that your relationship with your mother was not as great as your relationship with everyone else here," she said fluidly in French.

Amanda merely scowled. After a moment she went to the door and stuck her head into the hallway.

"If any one of you is late to class tomorrow I will see to it that that person is sent _home_! Front rooms only!" she shouted.

There was cheering from the students as they climbed out of bed and dashed to the front rooms to celebrate.

"You would not send any of them back," said Madame Maxime.

"You're right; I'd just drown them in the lake, much faster." Amanda grabbed a cloak from her dresser. "I need a walk."

"You most certainly do." Was all Madame Maxime said as Amanda walked past her and left the carriage. Amanda walked outside and immediately turned towards the lake and the forest.

_Carlisle?_ She called out with her mind, desperate. As he had gotten older Carlisle's telepathic ability had increased and he could now speak with her if she was anywhere near the forest.

**You seem upset.**

_Can you meet me by the lake?_

**I am already on my way there.**

Amanda reached the lake and had only to wait for a moment before her old friend stepped out of the forest. She had seen him many times before and yet the beauty of her friend still managed to stun her. His pelt was now completely silver, and his mane and tail were pure white. He lay down next to the lake and Amanda sat next to him, leaning against his side for warmth. Carlisle was her constant confident. He always listened and seemed to always be able to tell her the best way to go. He waited patiently for her to speak, knowing that if he did she would tell him what had upset her.

"She hasn't changed at all," Amanda said bitterly. "And I was the fool that thought she might."

Carlisle pressed her mind to find out what had been said and Amanda let him in, practicing with Carlisle had made her highly skilled in keeping other out of her mind, and she could slip past another persons defenses with ease, in such a way that they would never even know she had been there.

If Amanda was around a person for a long enough stretch of time she would be able to slip into their mind and sift through their memories. The only problem with this was that she had to be extremely close, literally, to the person, or else she would tire too quickly, and it took a long time to sift through the memories enough to find something useful. But once inside Amanda could leave herself a 'backdoor' and return without too much concentration.

She brought the memories of her discussion into her conscious thought, making it easier for Carlisle to find them. He also looked through the memory of her mother's reaction to Harry's performance in the tournament.

"I am actually jealous of that poor boy, and I fear it will sour me to the kid."

**You are jealous of the obvious way she shows her affection for the child?**

"Very much so. More then I should be."

**When you left, the castle was very sad. **

Amanda shook her head.

"Some of them, maybe, but they got over it."

**They had to, you did not come back. I remember how they felt when they got your letters on Christmas morning. They were both sad and happy to know you were safe. The next year they waited in anticipation of your letter, and yet again they were both happy and sad. But no matter how cheerful your letters might have been, they were always sad. They were hurt.**

"Do you think it was wrong of me to leave?"

**Not to leave, but perhaps you should have had more contact with them, and explained why you left.**

"Because I couldn't handle it, I was weak. And now I'm being weak again, I don't want to explain how weak I was to her, or any of them."

**Do you know how horrified they were when your letter didn't appear last year?**

"No, but that wasn't my fault. I would have written if I had been able."

**But when asked who you would like to contact, you said no one.**

"That would have been different, should I have told them that I may be dieing and I don't want them to come visit me?" she asked sarcastically.

**Why couldn't they visit you?**

"I wouldn't have known anyways, I was unconscious so long." She sighed. "I didn't want her to worry. And worse still, I was afraid she would only stay for a short time and then leave to go back to her students. It was better by far to pretend that she would have been there in an instant and stayed if I had asked."

**They would have come.** Amanda shook her head again.

"I remember, in my second year, after going into the shrieking shack, the only one who was always there was Charlie. He never left," she said. "Some friend I am, I never even sent him a letter, just Albus, my mother, and Severus."

**What would he have done had you sent him a letter?**

"I'm sure he would have tried to find me, probably knock some sense into my head. After I knocked some into him of course, I still owe him a fist in the mouth." She chuckled at the confusion she felt from her friend. "He asked me what would happen if he kissed me, I told him I'd punch him but he did it anyways." Amanda yawned.

**You are tired.**

"I'm always tired; I could sleep for days on end and still be tired, except on the full moon. I don't know why, that's the time when I feel the most worn out, and yet I can't sleep."

**Now is the time to sleep.**

"I'd rather not go back to the carriage just now."

**Who's telling you to? I'll watch over you little Amy. **Amanda yawned again; her friend was just so warm and comfortable.

"I feel rude using you like a pillow, even if I did fall asleep on you often during my school days."

**If I truly minded, you can be assured I would tell you. **

Amanda smiled and stretched out, wrapping her cloak around her legs and burying her upper half into Carlisle's side for warmth. His long pelt was warm and caught her breath, keeping her even warmer. The soft beat of his heart lulled her into a deep sleep, and Amanda quickly dived into it, feeling safe under the watchful gaze of her old friend.


	17. Scandalous

A few days later Amanda found herself hiding down in the kitchen, the head table had become rather cold of late, with both McGonagalls being icily formal with each other. It was almost as if they were trying to outdo the other by showing that they didn't have to resort to insults and could function perfectly fine around the other.

If it weren't for the common courtesies they both had drilled into their heads their disagreement would have come to blows already. Dumbledore watched on, but whenever he said anything all he got in reply was an icy remark, usually a polite way of telling himself to mind his own business and bugger off.

At the other end of the table, Severus had been receiving the same results when he tried to find out what happened. Amanda would politely tell him to drop it, and, failing that, would either ignore him or relentlessly change the subject until he gave up, in which she would begin speaking freely again unless he tried to bring up her mother again.

And so Amanda retreated to the kitchen for the meals she could escape, meaning all but dinner. She was sitting by the fire, reading a book after being introduced to Dobby and Winky by Matilda. Amanda had felt rather bad for Winky, but she was glad Dobby had found and enjoyed his freedom. Matilda hadn't liked Dobby at first, because he wasn't behaving like a proper house elf, but she'd warmed up to him.

It was several hours after she had settled in comfortably that Amanda heard shouting from the little elf, Dobby.

"Harry Potter, sir! _Harry Potter!_"

Amanda looked up in time to see Dobby knock the boy off his feet. Hermione and Ron laughed and helped him to his feet. She smiled, remembering Matilda doing the same thing when she'd come down for the first time each year. A few minutes later they were heading her way, pulled along by the excited little elf.

"Professor McGonagall?" said Hermione, shocked to find her in the kitchen. Dobby looked from the Gryffindors to Amanda.

"You is knowing Miss Amanda?" he said, looking thrilled. "Miss Amanda has been most kind to Dobby, sirs. Yes indeed! And her Matilda has been keeping a watchful eye on Winky for Dobby too!"

"Yeah? That's great. But, what are you doing down here?" asked Harry, looking a little confused.

"Reading, hence the book. Good lord boy they told me you were smart."

"I know that, but, why _here_?"

"Why not? It's peaceful, generally quiet, and I get to visit Matilda." she said, gesturing to a house elf who was busy scrubbing one of the long house tables. Hermione pounced.

"You have a house elf?" she said. "Do you realize that you are exploiting –"

"Give it a rest Hermione!" said Ron. "You are not going to rope her into _spew_!"

"Its not _spew,_ Ron!" she retorted angrily.

"Why don't you tell me about it?" suggested Amanda quietly.

Hermione looked thrilled, Ron groaned, and Harry started talking to Dobby. Hermione began explaining to Amanda how using House elves was like slave labor, and how wizards were exploiting the wandless creatures for their own gain. Half way through Hermione's explanation Amanda looked up and saw the horrified expression on Matilda's face.

"Matilda, are you alright?" she asked as soon as Hermione paused for breath. The frantic elf rushed over, throwing herself on Amanda's feet.

"Have I not always done a good job for Miss Amanda and Mrs. McGonagall?" The distressed elf cried. "Why does Miss Amanda want to send me away?" Amanda reached down and pulled the distraught elf into her arms.

"Do you really think I could be displeased with you?" she said. "I'm too selfish to give you up."

"Oh, thank you Miss Amanda! Thank you!" she cried, hugging her old charge. On the floor to their right, Winky had started sobbing loudly.

"You will find, Hermione," Amanda said, "that elves with good working conditions find the prospect of being free a terrible and shameful thing. You should concentrate on the elves that have bad working conditions, although even they might not like the idea."

Hermione thanked her for the advice and Amanda left, hoping to find a new place where she could stay out of the way.

Several weeks later Amanda was once again in the position where she had to ask another teacher for the use of their classroom. She stopped just outside and took a deep breath, before reaching for the door. Before she could even grasp the handle it swung open from the inside, it was Harry.

"Professor McGonagall!"

"Mr. Potter."

"Did you know there was going to be a ball?" he asked, looking a little dazed. The corners of Amanda's mouth twitched.

"I take it you just found out."

"I can't dance," he said desperately. "Can you dance?"

"I can," she said, kneeling down and dropping her voice. "But do you really think Professor McGonagall would allow one of her Gryffindor students to disgrace her house by being unable to dance? I am sure they will teach you how to dance before the ball."

Harry looked a little relieved, though not much.

"I have to find a partner too," he said.

Amanda fought not to laugh at the poor boy.

"I don't think they have a class for that," she said seriously. "But really, most girls will go with whoever has the guts to ask them first, unless they have someone already in mind. So pick someone you like and ask her before its too late."

"Thanks Professor," Harry said, racing off to his next class.

Amanda straightened up and properly entered the classroom. She strode up to her mothers desk quickly.

"Deputy Headmistress," her mother said stiffly.

"Professor McGonagall," she replied just as frostily, also reverting to using her title. She refrained from also calling her Deputy Headmistress, though, because that would have been just plain confusing.

"What is it you need?"

"Your classroom, after your classes have ended."

"What for?"

"To teach," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You already have Professor Snape's classroom," Minerva pointed out.

"For potions, which is what we have been using it for. We now require a somewhat larger classroom for a longer amount of time."

"What has suddenly changed that you need a full classroom?"

"I have had a sudden increase in students," she said. "Professor Karkaroff has requested that I teach his students as well, Madame Maxime agreed and Dumbledore suggested that I speak with you about using yours."

"How many students is that?"

"Not more then twenty or thirty."

"A fair sized class," she said, sounding as if she doubted Amanda could handle that many students.

"If you think it is necessary, you are most welcome to assist," Amanda said, though her tone was far from welcoming.

"I'm sure I would just get in your way," Minerva said, in a tone that clearly said she thought things would go the other way around. "Very well, this classroom is empty during the last two hours of the day. You may use it then."

"Most gracious, I thank you," she said, inclining her head.

"Good day, Professor."

"And to you, Minerva," she said, already halfway out the door.

By the time Amanda had walked to the end of the hallway she felt like Lucius, the way his voice never matched what his eyes said, and how you couldn't help but feel he was insulting you when he talked. She sighed and walked faster, as if to escape the classroom she'd just left. She thought back to her conversation with Harry and groaned.

Unlike the rest of her students, she had no intention what-so-ever of going to the ball. Her students were appalled when they heard this. As soon as she stepped into the carriage that night they pounced and started firing questions at her rapidly in French.

"Who are you going to the ball with?"

"What are you wearing?"

"How are you doing your hair?"

"How are you doing your make-up?"

"Oh! Can I do it?" Amanda laughed and shrugged them all off.

"It may shock you to hear this, but I'm not going."

"What?" They cried as a group. Fleur stepped up.

"But of course no one here is good enough for our Professor McGonagall," She said imperiously before turning to Amanda. "But you should still go, make zem wish they were good enough."

"You flatter me too much, Miss Delecour. However, I am not going because I don't want to go."

They looked a bit offended by this.

"But you have to go!" Fleur cried.

Amanda just shook her head, smiling, and retreated to her room.

Unfortunately for Amanda, her plans would be changed for her after her first class the next day. It had started off rather well Amanda thought, it could have been worse anyways. She walked into the room and immediately the Beauxbatons half of the class fell silent and stood up, the Durmstrang half, however, continued on chatting quietly. Amanda stood at the front of the class and eyed them for a moment, before whipping out her wand.

She flicked it at the doors and they flew open with a loud '**boom**.'

"You will either respect me in this class, or you will _leave_ my class," she said quietly, now having their full attention. "And then _you_ can explain to your Headmaster why you have disgraced your school with your incompetence."

They straightened up at once, watching her with a new respect.

"Now, tell me, what was the last book you used to study Defense against the Dark Arts?"

They gave her mixed results, but she eventually got the correct books from a seventh year. She noticed that none of them had book bags.

"Would you, by any chance, have a copy of each of these books on your ship?" One boy nodded. "Fetch them, please, Mr. Cruase." The boy jumped from his seat and walked towards the door.

"Were you sick during the first task, per chance?" she said coldly. He shook his head. "Then you saw the summoning charm Mr. Potter used to acquire his Firebolt. You have a wand, use it."

After this the class progressed much more smoothly. She had them pair off with her own students to practice Defense against the Dark Arts and found that the Durmstrang students knew most of the curses but were seriously lacking in the defensive side. So she mostly had her student's attack, while showing the Durmstrang students how to defend themselves.

After class she dismissed them to get ready for dinner and sat back behind the desk, exhausted. Class had never been so exhausting before last winter, she felt like she was going to collapse. Amanda closed her eyes and sighed.

"Tiring day?" asked a voice, Madame Maxime had entered. "I 'ope the extra students are not tiring you too much."

It was a mark of just how long they had been working together that Amanda didn't even open her eyes, and Madame Maxime couldn't have cared less.

"No, I'll be okay."

"You always say that."

"And am I not always correct?"

"It's good to know we haven't imposed on you too much." The new voice caused Amanda to open her eyes and sit up; Dumbledore had followed Madame Maxime in.

"Of course not, I will tell you should that happen," she said, smirking slightly.

Madame Maxime set something down on the desk; it was a small red velvet bag that clinked softly when it hit the desk.

"What's this?" Amanda asked, lifting the bag.

"I know you didn't bring much money with you, it's an advancement on your pay. So you can buy your dress."

Amanda scooted the bag away from her.

"It is not necessary, I hadn't planned on going."

"But we need you, all the teachers are attending," Dumbledore stated. "We need as many chaperons as possible."

Amanda narrowed her eyes.

"How long do I have to stay?" Dumbledore smiled brightly.

"Oh, just long enough to dance to a few songs, drink some punch, enjoy the Weird Sisters. Who I hear are quite good."

"So in other words, I'll be there all night," she said sourly.

He smiled again.

"Now I know why you're both here. Double attack, that's just cruel right before dinner."

Dumbledore chuckled and Madame Maxime smiled. They left soon after, with Amanda trailing behind, trying to think of a way to hide this change of plan from her students.

She managed to sneak off to Hogsmeade and get her dress without them being any the wiser, on the pretext of buying Christmas presents. It was a good thing she'd already bought most of her Christmas presents because it took her a long time to find a dress she liked, and even longer to find a pair of shoes that would match it well enough.

In the end concealing it proved to be a futile attempt. The day of the ball her students pounced her again, dragging her out of the library several hours before the ball would start so they could insure that her hair and make-up were up to standards.

Amanda decided Madame Maxime must have spilled the news to them, the traitor.

Several hours later Amanda walked down to the great hall, late. She'd stayed behind to help a few last minute students get ready, glad for any excuse not to go into the Great Hall.

Her dress was white, trailing down to hang loosely around her ankles and ruffling out a bit. Once past the hip the dress started to darken slowly until it became a dark blue around her ankles. She wore silver heels along with the silver bracelet Charlie had given her and Severus's necklace. Instead of wearing her hair in a braid like normal, she had curled it, letting it hang down her back in waves, small sparkling sapphire clips had been added by her enthusiastic students. Her pale skin sparkled in the twinkling lights that had been set up around the castle.

She took a breath and slipped in, trying to go by unnoticed. The walls of the Great Hall were covered in sparkling silver frost, with garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry ceiling. A hundred or so small tables were scattered throughout the Hall, lit by small candles.

People were still sitting down at their tables so Amanda was able to go relatively unnoticed. She slid in next to Severus, who was wearing slightly nicer black robes then normal. He looked up at her, startled, and nearly gaped. She looked at him and cocked her head.

"What?" she asked, suddenly nervous. Severus took several moments to collect his thoughts.

"You look very nice," he managed to say eventually. Amanda blushed.

"Don't let them hear you say that," she said, gesturing towards her students. "They'd never let me live it down after all the fuss I made to try and escape."

They ate in relative silence, each caught up in their own thoughts. After dinner they watched the others as they started to dance. They were watching in silence when someone behind them cleared their throat pointedly and they turned around, it was Karkaroff. He extended a hand to Amanda.

"I would be honored by a dance," he said silkily.

"Oh, I really can't dance, I'm afraid your feet would suffer terribly."

"An inconvenience I am quite willing to live with," he said, smile never faltering.

Amanda's mind went blank and she couldn't think of a believable reason to say no. She stood up with one last glance at Severus before Karkaroff twirled her into the crowd roughly.

He led her in a waltz, pulling her a little closer then she would have liked and holding her so tightly that it was almost painful. She tried to pull back a little but his grip was like iron, not letting her move back an inch, it tightened even more when she tried to pull back, making her grimace. He smiled at her.

"You are looking especially lovely tonight, Amanda," he said, his eyes still as cold as ever. "And you are not nearly as bad at dancing as you claimed."

"I had not danced in a very long time; I must admit I remembered it being much more difficult."

"Perhaps you did not have a proper partner," he said, pulling her even closer then before, if that was possible, so that his breath tickled her ear unpleasantly. Amanda shivered slightly at the feeling. A moment later the song ended, and Amanda was free to pull away without appearing rude.

"Thank you for the dance, Professor," she said, starting to turn around. Karkaroff looked like he was about to say more but he was interrupted by Fred Weasley.

"May I have this dance, Professor?" he asked, standing between her and Karkaroff. Amanda smiled and took his hand, glad of the escape. She and Fred danced much faster and more wildly then Amanda had with Karkaroff, it was also a lot more fun without him breathing down her neck. Fred grinned at the relieved expression on her face.

"You looked in need of rescuing back there, so George and I thought we'd help you out," he explained. "Plus, now I can say I got to dance with one of the prettiest girls here."

Amanda laughed.

"Flattery can get you many places, though few of them can be reached by flattering _me_," she replied, before dropping her voice. "Although I thank you for the rescue, I definitely needed one."

Fred laughed and spun her around.

After several more dances, including a dance each with George, Dumbledore, Ron, Harry, a rather strange dance with Peeves that left her chilled, and Moody, Amanda excused herself from the dance floor, saying she needed a respite. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Karkaroff watching her. She slid back in next to Severus who hadn't moved since she'd left.

"I take it you don't dance then," she said, rather breathless.

"Hardly," he replied. They watched another dance pass by in pleasant peace before Karkaroff started walking over again.

"Bugger," she muttered. Severus snorted quietly.

"May I have another dance, Amanda?" Karkaroff said, his eyes still cold and his voice sly.

Amanda opened her mouth but she couldn't think of a reason this time. Severus spoke for her.

"I'm afraid you're just a moment too late, Karkaroff, I beat you to it."

He stood up and offered his arm. Amanda, shocked, took it, allowing him to lead her away.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Don't mention it, ever," he muttered, glaring at the students around them. Amanda chuckled.

"Afraid I'll ruin your reputation, or maybe you just don't know how to dance?" she teased.

Severus glared for a moment before quickly twisting her arm, causing her to spin rapidly. He started weaving them trough the crowd, spinning and twirling her around as he went, skillfully keeping them from running into anyone else.

Severus kept pace with the music as it sped up, making them move faster and faster until the outside world seemed more of a blur. Their movements were fluid and graceful, and soon people were watching them instead of dancing. Amanda and Severus were oblivious to the people outside unless they were close enough to get hit, in which case they would spin off in another direction; otherwise it was all they could do to keep moving and not trip over their own feet.

When the song ended Amanda was spun back into his arms, pressed against his chest, both breathing hard. It was several moments before they registered clapping around them and looked up. They looked on, shocked by the fact that people had been watching and they hadn't noticed. The students and staff were shocked too, who knew they could dance like that, or that Severus would dance at all? The clapping gradually stopped and people returned to their own dances, leaving Severus and Amanda alone.

Breathing hard, Amanda motioned to the door, excusing herself and going out for some air. She pushed open the doors and stood on the steps just outside the school, still trying to catch her breath.

"Are you alright?" asked a voice behind her, Severus.

"Yeah," she said, "just needed some air. Breathing and all that."

He chuckled and stood beside her, watching her in the moonlight. It made her hair shimmer as it cascaded down her back, in sharp contrast with her skin, which was almost the same color as the moon. Her blue eyes sparkled brightly. He saw her shiver in her thin dress and pulled off his cloak, wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Thank you," she said, pulling it closer. "I guess I managed to ruin your reputation after all," she said brightly. Severus growled.

"You owe me," he said.

Amanda smiled sweetly up at him.

"What, dancing with a lovely woman wasn't enough?"

"Who told you you were lovely?"

"You did!" she said indignantly.

"I must have been delusional at the time."

"I'd be rather upset if you hadn't just saved me from Karkaroff."

"You didn't look like you were having very much fun with him."

Not to mention the fact that he didn't like the way Karkaroff was holding her so close. He shivered lightly, though it had nothing to do with the weather.

"If you were cold then why did you give me your cloak?" Amanda asked, laughing a bit. He shrugged. She shook her head and took the cloak off, pulling it around his shoulders.

"You have to be colder then I am," he said, "that dress looks thin." Amanda hugged him.

"That's what you're for."

He snorted.

"I am not a blanket," he said sternly.

"No, but you are warm. Come on, I don't smell bad and no one can see you being nice out here." He grumbled but put his arms around her, keeping them both warm. He rested his head on her chin, relaxing.

"Midget," he muttered.

"I am not short!" she said. "I'm fun size!"

He chuckled, she really wasn't all that short anymore, he didn't know why he still teased her about it except that it was fun.

"You know," he said after awhile. "We have to go back in eventually."

"Lets not and say we did," she said, "I don't want to dance anymore." He shook his head and drew back enough to look her in the eye.

"It's your own fault. You shouldn't look so nice." Amanda blushed and looked away. He impatiently snorted and cupped her chin, bringing her back to face him.

"One would think you would be used to praise, having been best in your class," he said. "And I'm sure your boyfriends in school had no qualms about telling you how you looked." Amanda blushed once again.

"I didn't have a boyfriend in school," she muttered. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"You can't tell me no one was interested," he said, disbelieving. She smiled sheepishly.

"No one interesting was interested."

"That's their loss, you look… amazing, especially for a Gryffindor. And I'm glad you found a use for my necklace."

"I never take it off," she admitted, smiling sheepishly once more.

"Don't you have other necklaces?"

"I like this one," she said quietly.

Severus stared in shock. He was amazed it would mean so much to her, something he'd given her. Amanda always managed to amaze him. And she was here, outside with him, instead of dancing inside with everyone else. She'd stuck by him in school too, even when everyone else had warned her away.

Without another thought he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was soft and sweet and he continued to caress her cheek with his hand. He broke away regretfully. And then she was on tip toe, catching his lips for a brief second kiss. When they broke away again Severus kissed the top of her head before pulling her back to him, cradling her head under his chin.

After a moment he sighed and pulled off his cloak, once again placing it on her shoulders and carefully and tenderly pulling her hair out from under it. He disentangled their arms and walked away swiftly, needing time to think about what he'd just done.

Amanda watched him walk away, not entirely surprised that he was leaving, it was just the way he was. She sighed and pulled the cloak closer about her, colder then ever, and sure it had nothing to do with the weather.

A flash of light reminded her of Carlisle, and the ability she'd gained from him. She wanted nothing more then to use it on Severus, to slip into his mind and see what he was thinking. But that would be wrong, if a man doesn't have his mind then what does he have?

She glanced up at the moon, aggravated. They wouldn't get a chance to talk for awhile, and knowing Severus they wouldn't talk at all, he'd probably prefer to forget the whole thing. Tomorrow they didn't have classes, as it was Sunday, and it was the full moon, meaning she wouldn't be at dinner that night or at meals the next day. She shook her head and walked back to the carriage, not sure what state of mind she should be in.

For the rest of the night Amanda sat in a chair facing the door, catching her students as they trickled in during the wee hours of the morning. After the set curfew for the night had passed Amanda turned off the lights, allowing her students to think they'd gotten away with returning late before surprising them from the darkness with her voice; just because she'd gotten away with it as a child didn't mean she'd let them.

After the last of her students had returned just before dawn Amanda retired to her room, careful not to wake Madame Maxime, and slept fitfully, still wrapped in Severus's cloak.

**I have no idea how much I'll get out today because I have swine flu, but it's all good 'because I also have a handy dandy bottle of Ibuprofen! Anyways, read and enjoy, leave nice long reviews, or even short ones just to let me know what you think.**


	18. fixing a hole

"Hagrid, I know you're in there!" she shouted. "I can hear Fang barking! Would you open this bloody door already? It's cold!"

The weather hadn't been kind during the days after the dance, it had snowed almost constantly since. But even colder then the weather was Rita Skeeters newest article about giants, specifically Hagrid. So now Amanda was standing up to her knees in snow outside Hagrids door and she wasn't going to leave until she saw Hagrid and reassured him that Rita's latest 'article' was nothing more then over exaggerated slop.

A moment later the door opened, to reveal a smiling Dumbledore.

"Good afternoon."

"Thank you. May I come in?" she asked politely.

As soon as she entered Fang pounced, knocking her over completely. Once on the floor the ecstatic Fang stood over her, licking her face joyously. It was several minutes before Amanda was able to beat him off and look at Hagrid. He looked awful, his face was blotchy, his eyes swollen, and his hair was a tangled nest.

Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting around the table with tea in front of them.

"Guess I'm a little late," she said, standing up.

"We've been trying to convince Hagrid not to listen to what that Skeeter woman says," said Hermione.

"Hagrid," she said, trying to keep disapproval from her voice. "Why are you letting that horrid little gossip ruin your life?" Hagrid just shook his head.

"Ye wouldn't understand," he said lowly.

"Rita Skeeter delights in finding the very worst in people and blowing it out of proportion. According to her, I am in a competition with my mother, each of us trying to show the other up, Harry, is and emotionally backwards attention seeking twit, – no offense –"

"– None taken –"

"And Dumbledore is an obsolete overgrown _dingbat_. Are you really going to take _her_ word on the matter over the words of your friends?"

Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked from his eyes down into his beard. Dumbledore stood up.

"I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday," he said. "You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."

Amanda left soon after, leaving Hagrid in Harry, Hermione and Ron's capable hands. Hagrid wasn't the only person Amanda had had to hunt down recently; Severus had been avoiding her too. She'd finally cornered him in the library, stepping out from behind a shelf when he was looking for a book and cutting off his escape.

"You can't keep avoiding me; you will run out of people to talk to eventually."

"I managed quite well on my own for the past ten years while you were gone," he said coolly.

Amanda flinched inwardly.

"Harsh, except I've ruined your reputation, so now other people will try to talk to you," she said, "and if I'm not there talking to you then they'll try to, and then where will you be?" Severus groaned.

"What will I do when you leave again?" Amanda chuckled and something behind them made a small noise. It was one of her students.

"Suffer," she said dramatically, before turning to her student. A moment later she straightened.

"I'm afraid you'll have to endure, there are a few things which require my attention." Severus shooed her off, holding back a smile at his immature friends' behavior.

Walking out of the library, Amanda's students started to laugh.

"You like him, don't you, Professor?" she said in French. Amanda's mouth twitched.

"Of course, Professor Snape is a respected colleague of mine."

"That's not what I meant –"

"That had better be _exactly_ what you meant," she growled, sending the girl into a fit of laughter.

Amanda refused to say anything more to the girl about it, quickly dealing with her problem and escaping before the girl had a chance to tell the rest of the Beauxbatons her theories.

Amanda left Dumbledore's office long after midnight, having drunken several glasses of hot chocolate and feeling rather cheerful. She was walking down a hallway when she heard angry shouts, and she thought she could make out Severus's irate tone. She turned around and headed towards the voices, wondering what was going on.

Stepping around the corner she was met by a strange sight, Severus and Filch were standing on the stairs, with Moody glaring up at Snape. On closer inspection, she noticed that his magical eye kept flicking towards something just behind the Potions Professor. There was a piece of parchment on the steps but she found it hard to believe that that was what had captured his attention so thoroughly.

They hadn't noticed her so she watched, waiting for the opportune moment to intercede. Moody's face twisted into a smile.

"Auror's privilege, Snape. Dumbledore told me to keep an eye –" Amanda found that hard to believe, and Severus obviously thought so too.

"Dumbledore happens to trust me," he said through clenched teeth. "I refuse to believe that he gave you orders to search my office!"

"'Course Dumbledore trusts you," growled Moody. "He's a trusting man, isn't he? Believes in second chances. But me – I say there are spots that don't come off, Snape. Spots that never come off, d'you know what I mean?"

Severus suddenly seized his left arm as if in pain. Amanda chose this moment to step foreword.

"Slumber party? And I wasn't invited, how sad," she said mockingly. "You said it yourself Moody, Dumbledore's a trusting man, he wouldn't have asked you to search someone's office. It's both an invasion of privacy and something he simply wouldn't ask someone else to do."

"Amanda, well you'd know all about second chances, wouldn't you?" he growled. "Perhaps its time to learn that people aren't all good inside."

"I think I've already learned that, thanks," she replied dryly. His magical eye drifted down to stare at her midriff before twitching his lips into an even more twisted smile.

"Yes, I can tell," he smirked. Amanda dropped her arms around her waist subconsciously, glaring fiercely at the ex-auror.

"Did Dumbledore ask you to keep an eye on me as well, Moody?"

"No, but he should have, if I'm any judge. You've been keeping secrets, Amanda."

Her forehead crinkled, since when had he ever called her Amanda?

"I'll be seeing you in a few days then," he said, as if he doubted it.

"I'm sure you will," she replied stiffly, her arms still covering her stomach.

Moody laughed and turned back to Snape, who had dropped his arm angrily.

"Get back to bed, Snape."

"You don't have the authority to send me anywhere! I have as much right to prowl this school after dark as you do!"

"Prowl away," said Moody, but his voice was full of menace. "I look forward to meeting you in a dark corridor some time… You've dropped something by the way…" Moody pointed to the piece of parchment lying on the stairs behind Severus. Snape and Filch turned, Severus reaching for the parchment.

"Accio Parchment!"

The parchment flew up into the air, slipped through Snape's outstretched fingers, and soared down the stairs into Moody's hand.

"My mistake," he said calmly. "It's mine – must've dropped it earlier –"

With a jolt Amanda recognized the parchment to be the Marauders Map, she had seen James and Sirius use it before, when they thought no one was around. She thought back, remembering the invisibility cloak, and the trick steps that were hidden on the stairs. _Harry._ She looked at the spot she knew the trip step to be and raised an eyebrow, knowing Harry could see her.

Severus, it seemed, had come to the same conclusion, his dark eyes had flicked from Filch, who was still holding the golden egg, to the Map in Moody's hand.

"Potter," he snarled, turning back to the steps. He stretched his arms out and began walking up the stairs slowly, searching for the Gryffindor boy.

"There's nothing there, Snape!" barked Moody, "but I'll be happy to tell the Headmaster how quickly your mind jumped to Harry Potter!"

"Meaning what?" Snape turned to look at Moody, hands still outstretched, inches from where Amanda guessed Harry to be.

"Meaning the Dumbledore's very interested to know whose got it in for that boy!" said Moody, limping towards the stairs. "And so am I, Snape… very interested…"

Snape looked down at Moody, but his hair covered his face so well that Amanda couldn't tell what he was thinking. She resisted the urge to push into his mind, wanting to know what he was thinking but still not willing to invade his privacy so thoroughly. They stood in silence for a moment or two. Then Severus lowered his hands.

"I merely thought," he said, in a voice of forced calm, "That if Potter was wandering around after hours again… it's an unfortunate habit of his… he should be stopped. For – for his own safety."

"Ah, I see," said Moody softly. "Got Potter's best interests at heart, have you?" There was a long silence.

"I think I will go back to bed," said Snape curtly.

"Best idea you've had all night," said Moody. "Now, Filch, if you'll just give me that egg –"

"No!" said Filch, clutching the egg as though it were his first born son. "This is evidence of Peeves' treachery!"

"It is the property of the champion," said Amanda, stepping forward. "And must be returned to them. If you speak to Dumbledore in the morning I am sure he will understand that you had to return it."

Severus swept down the stairs, giving Amanda an odd look as he passed. Filch followed him, handing the egg grudgingly to Amanda and disappearing down the corridor, muttering to his cat as he went. Amanda noticed that the egg smelled strongly of bath soap.

"Had a bath, Potter?" she asked, looking directly at the step he should be on.

"There's nothing there, Amanda," Moody growled, taking a step towards her again.

"Accio cloak," she called, flicking her wand. A silvery cloak seemed to materialize in mid air and fly towards her, leaving a very shocked looking Gryffindor stuck in the staircase. "I wouldn't call Potter 'nothing,' Moody. Especially right in front of him, think about his self esteem."

Amanda climbed the steps, stopping in front of Harry and holding out a hand, which he gratefully grabbed and pulled himself from the step.

"Thanks. How did you know about the cloak? Can you see through them? I mean, you seemed to know exactly where I was."

"No, Harry, I could not see you, you are quite invisible," she assured. "But I recognized the map, and your father showed me the cloak before. And I know of few people who didn't fall into a trip step while they were in Hogwarts." She handed him the egg and the cloak. "Good night, Potter, Moody. Good luck with your egg."

Amanda swept past them, leaving two stunned men behind to watch her disappear down the hall and back to the carriage.

The next night Severus sought her out, finding Amanda by the lake as normal. She was leaning against a tree with one hand gently stroking a tentacle of the giant squid that was lying next to her.

"Have you nothing better to do with your day then bond with a giant squid?" he asked, trying to get a rise from the women.

"Have you nothing better to do then follow me around?"

"I believe it was you who found me last night."

"Admit it," she said, smiling up at him. "You missed me."

"As if I could miss a stupid little once-Gryffindor."

She put a hand to her heart.

"Ouch," she said, feigning pain. "Sit down Professor, and tell me what's on your mind."

He sat and leaned against the tree next to her.

"What did Moody mean, when he said you were keeping secrets?" He eventually asked. Amanda looked away from him, hiding her face with her hair.

"I believe he thinks I'm a werewolf."

"Are you?"

"If I _was_ a werewolf then how would I have been able to save you _from_ the werewolves?" she asked in a matter of fact voice.

He rolled his eyes, ignoring her tone. He had the feeling there was something else she was hiding but he didn't ask, knowing she wouldn't tell him anyways.

They talked through the night, not about anything in particular, just enjoying each others company. After awhile Amanda decided she had better be heading back to the carriage, her students would be waking up soon. She tried to stand up but Severus had accidentally sat on the end of her cloak and she fell back, landing in his lap. Severus caught her with an 'uhmph.'

"Walk much?" he asked.

"Maybe if you watched where you were sitting?"

He was about to reply but the squid cut in, knocking them both over with a sweep of its mighty tentacle. They fell sideways in a tangled mess. Severus had thrown an arm around her head to keep it from hitting the ground and was now holding her to his chest.

They gasped as a wave of freezing water crashed over them, soaking them both. Amanda started laughed after a moment of shocked silence.

"And what, dare I ask, is so funny?"

"You should see your face!" she said, still laughing.

Severus growled and pushed her away, struggling to get up. It took much struggling, grunting, and laughing before they were able to disentangle themselves and stand up.

"Well don't we look a sight?" Amanda said, still laughing a bit.

"Come on," he said, holding back his own mirth. "Let's get back to the castle and clean up."

Deciding not to go back to the carriage covered in mud and sopping wet, Amanda followed him up and around the building, to a side passage that led into the dungeons.

Severus's quarters were sparse, with bookshelves covering the walls and an empty fireplace on one end. Two doors were settled on one side, one presumably to his room and another leading to a bathroom. There was a small cabinet next to a pair of chairs by the fireplace. It was chillier down here then it had been outside, and Amanda shivered violently in her wet clothes.

"C-cold enough, Severus?" she asked, stuttering a bit.

"If you don't like it, go back outside."

"I love what you've done with the place!" she exclaimed, making him smile and shake his head.

Amanda stood in the middle of the room while Severus disappeared through one of the doors. He returned a moment later with some clothes, which he handed her.

"I suppose I will be polite and let you take the bath first."

"How gracious of you, kind sir." she said, slipping passed him into the bathroom. The bathroom was simple, like the rest of his quarters, with only a sink, a toilet, a bathtub and a mirror. Soaps lined the edge of the tub and there was a small box of towels in a corner.

Amanda took a quick bath, enjoying the soaps and the way they smelled. After her bath she dried off quickly and pulled Severus's clothes on. They swamped her, hanging on her thin frame like a tent. She sighed in irritation, she'd lost a lot of weight over the last year, too much, her ribs had stuck out and in the back even her spine had seemed to jut out of her body. She'd gained some of it back recently but not as much as she would have liked. She transfigured the clothes so they fit better and looked more feminine before stepping out of the bathroom.

Severus had already changed clothes and was sitting in a chair, staring at the empty fireplace. He looked up at her when she came out, smirking.

"Are you sure you took long enough?" he teased.

"Ha ha, so funny," she said, sitting opposite him. Severus got up to take his bath.

"Do you mind if I light a fire?" she asked.

"If you kill yourself it will mean a lot of tedious paper work."

"Again, you're so funny," she sneered back.

He vanished into the bathroom and Amanda lit a fire with her wand. She curled up in the chair and closed her eyes sleepily, basking in the warmth of the fire. It was so warm, and she felt so safe and comfortable that Amanda couldn't help but fall asleep waiting for Severus to come out.

Severus rolled his eyes when he came out to find her asleep, she must have been really tired. He knelt down in front of the chair and looked her over, taking in the peaceful expression on her face, the fact that she was wearing his clothes, and the way she smelled like him. He reached out a tentative hand and brushed a few pieces of wet hair out of her face, his hand lingering over her cheek. She sighed and turned her head, leaning into his hand. Severus wrapped an arm under her legs and another around her back, lifting her into his arms and carrying her to the bedroom.

She stirred lightly and hugged his chest, pressing her face into it for warmth. He kicked back the blankets and tried to lay her down, but she wouldn't let go. After a few unsuccessful attempts to leave without waking her he gave up, and, deciding he could definitely use the sleep, climbed in beside her. He smiled as the still sleeping girl snuggled into his side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close. He fell asleep with his head nuzzled into her hair, loving the smell.

Several peaceful hours passed before Amanda woke Severus with her thrashing about.

"Amy, wake up, Amy," he said, shaking her gently.

She shot up, eyes wide and panting. Amanda looked around wildly before staring at him, looking confused and distressed.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She nodded jerkily and pulled her knees to her chest, still looking around wildly and trembling violently. Severus put a hand hesitantly on her shoulder. As soon as he did she attached herself to him, wrapping her arms tight around him and burying herself into his chest. Doubting he could have pulled her off even if he'd wanted to, Severus rested his chin against her head and stroked her hair, hoping it was the right thing to do.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It was just a dream," she finished, almost to herself.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

She shook her head; face still buried in his side. After awhile Amanda's tremors slowly stopped and her body went limp, she had fallen back asleep. Severus slowly leaned back, bringing her back down with him. He pulled her closer and rested his chin on the top of her head once again before drifting back to sleep.

**So that was probably a pretty boring chapter, sorry. But here are a few notes you may want to look at.**

**To unoriginallyanonymous, I definitely understand why Minerva's and Amanda's relationship bothers you, it has been really weird to write, I keep having to delete and rewrite the parts between them over and over again before I'm half way happy with them, so I can see how it might not really work for my readers either. But, I would add that Dumbledore hasn't spoken to McGonagall about their relationship because I don't believe Minerva would have believed him anyways, and I feel Dumbledore wanted them to work it out for themselves…. But not to worry, I'll get it all sorted out in the end.**

**Also, someone sent me these questions and I feel I need to answer them, so check this out.**

**Is Amanda/Amy a werewolf like Remus? Or is there something else that is wrong with her? – I think I answered that in this chapter, hooray for me! But I'm taking my own liberties with what's wrong with her; so however hard I tried to stay with JK's world and make this story fit, I'm afraid it's going to go crashing out the window when I get to telling you guys what is wrong with her. Sorry if that bothers you.**

Will Amanda and Minerva ever fix their relationship? – If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise!

Will Severus and Amanda/Amy ever get together? How will Minerva react if her daughter is with Severus? – Of course they'll get together! It's just taking forever because I don't think Severus would just instantly like someone and this is a freakishly long story, I've still got to get them all through the seventh book, and I'm only in the fourth. Be patient.

Is Severus a death-eater in this story? – Oh yeah. Definitely. I'm trying to stick to the original plot line as much as possible, and I think I'm doing an okay job of that… I think.

**Thanks to those of you who have been reviewing. And thanks for those of you who actually read all that, I know it was a lot of notes.**


	19. 2nd task

"Good evening Potter, Weasley, Granger," she said quietly, causing the three students to jump.

She'd been looking for them all day so she could send them up to Professor McGonagall's office.

It was the night before the second task and she'd been looking for the three of them all afternoon. She'd sent Gabrielle and Miss Chang to Professor McGonagalls office hours ago. The library was the last place she'd expected to find Potter, it showed he hadn't finished working out his clue yet, or if he had, he hadn't figured out how to breathe under water.

"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione squeaked. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, actually, and you too, Mr. Weasley. Professor McGonagall would like to speak with you in her office."

"Why?" asked Hermione, looking surprised.

"The best kind of prize is a surprise, Miss Granger. Now go." They scampered off, looking worriedly back at Harry a few times. Without his friends around the boy looked absolutely panicky. "I am sure you'll think of something, Potter. Don't forget to sleep though."

He nodded mutely and she left, ready to sleep now that she'd tracked down all the 'treasures.'

"Where iz she? Where is Gabrielle?" shrieked Fleur for what had to be the hundredth time. Amanda sighed, there was no point trying to explain again, Fleur knew where her sister was, she'd figured out the egg long ago, weather or not Madam Maxime had helped her was another matter and one which Amanda didn't care to think about.

"Just go stand by the judges and don't worry too much," Amanda said. "Gabrielle will be fine."

Fleur nodded and walked slowly around the lake while Amanda climbed the stands. She collapsed gratefully into a seat. Fleur had practically attacked her when she'd returned to the carriage last night and she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep.

"Well don't you look perky this morning?"

"A thousand nights without sleep and I'll still be more fun to hang around then you, Mr. Snape," she said, looking blearily up at him. He dropped down next to her.

"Good."

"Ouch, I was joking," she said. "I happen to think you are lots of fun to be around." He scowled and looked around.

"Why must you say things like that when there are other people around?"

"Because I love to ruin your reputation," she said sweetly.

"As if you haven't anything better to do."

"What's more important then ruining the reputation of my favorite grumpy potions professor?"

"I thought I was your only grumpy potions professor."

Amanda laughed and a shrill whistle pierced the air. They had been so distracted that they hadn't even noticed the start of the second task. Krum, Cedric and Fleur had already dived into the water and disappeared. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to just be walking into the lake. The crowd around them laughed and several people jeered. Amanda cringed, surely the boy had figured out _something_.

He stood, waist deep in the lake, as if waiting for something. And then he turned _green_. Severus leaned forward and growled.

"Gillyweed," he hissed, "from my private stores." Amanda whistled.

"Either brave or extremely foolish of him. Are you sure it's from _your_ stores?" He glared at her, and she glared right back. "Do not give me that look Severus Snape. It was a legitimate question and you know it."

"I'm sorry?"

"That's right you're sorry. What would you do without me here to tell you when you're sorry?" He shook his head.

"Live up to my reputation?"

"Well we can't have that," she teased before becoming serious again. "Besides, you can't go and drag him out of the lake." Severus sighed and leaned back.

"I'll have to content myself with hoping he'll drown."

Amanda decided not to point out that they couldn't see anything anyways and leaned back to wait, resisting the urge to shiver in the crisp air.

Nearly half an hour later a head broke the surface of the lake, coughing and spluttering loudly, it was Fleur. Amanda launched herself down the stands, eager to get to her drowning student. A crowd had gathered around the shore but there were grindylows swarming around Fleur and no one seemed to want to risk it to help the drowning girl. Amanda dove in, nearly gasping at the coldness of the water. Had there been any air she would have sighed in annoyance, she could easily dry her clothes but that wouldn't take away the chill that was sure to set in.

The grindylows scattered when she waved her wand at them angrily, leaving a nearly unconscious Fleur floating eerily behind. Amanda swam down and wrapped an arm around the girls' waist before kicking up powerfully; she'd learned to swim since the last time she'd been in the lake. She dragged them both onto the shore where people with towels were waiting.

"Gabrielle! Gabrielle!" Fleur cried and tried to dive back into the lake. Amanda caught her and held her back, forcefully wrapping a towel around her shoulders.

"Your sister will be fine!" she assured the screaming girl. "Calm down!"

Madame Pomfrey took the protesting girl off her hands to check her for injuries and warm her up. Amanda ignored the nurse and stalked back up the stands, where a highly amused looking Severus was waiting. He stood up to let her past.

"You look lovely."

"Thank you, Severus, a gentleman, as always," she replied sarcastically.

"What? I could have told you you look like a drowned rat."

She narrowed her eyes and grinned mischievously.

"Well since you're just _so_ sweet." She wrapped her arms around him, giving him a great big hug.

"Get off! Before I throw you _back_ into the lake!"

Amanda laughingly complied, pulling out her wand and drying her clothes. She shivered and pulled her cloak tight around her, hunching down on the bench. Severus looked amused.

"It is-s-sn't fun-n-ny."

The wind wasn't that cold but it seemed that way after diving into the lake, her soaking wet hair didn't help matters much either. A moment later something warm and dark enveloped Amanda, pushing back the chilly air, Severus had given her his cloak.

"You don't have to –"

"I do if I want to be able to think without someone's teeth chattering in my ear."

"Thank you," she said quietly.

He just grunted and turned his eyes back to the lake. Another half an hour passed and the water was disturbed again. It was Cedric, with Cho. They were soon followed by Krum and Hermione. The crowd cheered loudly before settling down eagerly to await Harry, but he didn't show. Several more minutes passed and still he hadn't shown.

"It looks as if Potter might have drowned after all, gillyweed only last an hour, doesn't it?"

Severus nodded grimly.

"I couldn't get that lucky, he'll show up."

As if to punctuate his words three heads bobbed to the surface, Harry, Ron, and Gabrielle. Pandemonium broke lose in the stands and down by the judges table. A red headed boy splashed franticly into the water and seized Ron by the head, literally dragging him to shore, Madame Maxime was trying to restrain a hysterical Fleur, who was now fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.

"Gabrielle! _Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?_"

Amanda just pulled Severus's cloak tighter around her shoulders and settled back to wait, everyone was fine and the task had been completed so all she wanted to do was hear the scores and get back to the carriage where a roaring fire was waiting for her. She was tired, cold, wet, and her body ached from running around so much in the last couple days. Add to that the fact that it was a full moon and she had to teach a potions class early in the morning and it made for one very miserable professor.

Severus caught her sour expression out of the corner of his eye.

"You're everlasting cheerfulness is killing me," he said, reverting to his normal sarcastic self.

Amanda just stuck her tongue out and snuggled even farther into his cloak, shivering slightly. Her pale skin seemed to glow in sharp contrast to the black hair plastered to it and the black cloak he had wrapped around her shoulders.

Making sure that all the attention was focused on the champions and judges; Severus moved closer to Amanda and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him so as to share his warmth. Any shock Amanda might have had from this was quickly shoved back as she snuggled into his side, more then glad for the extra warmth.

"You are so my favorite person ever," she said, scooting over as close as she could.

Severus just grunted. With his arm around her he was able to feel just how thin she had become and he briefly wondered again what had happened to the strong Gryffindor girl he had always known.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice, signaling that the judges had come to a conclusion. They gave Fleur twenty-five, awarding her points because of her charm work rather then the fact that she was chased out by Grindylows, Cedric, as the first to arrive, was awarded forty-seven, and Krum forty. Their next announcement was enough to make Severus snort in anger, Potter, by attempting to rescue all the hostages, had shown _moral fiber_, and was awarded forty-five points.

Amanda snorted beside him.

"He is his fathers' son. Only James could have been awarded points for _moral fiber_."

Severus nudged her off him, earning a reproachful look.

"Let's go," he said quietly, "Unless you want to wade through this lot."

He gestured around at the maddened students, screaming their approval or disapproval for their champions score. Amanda jumped up, leading him hastily towards the back of the stands where there weren't any spectators.

"I don't know how things work where you've been living, but here you have to go _down_ to get to the ground."

"I have every intention of going down," she said, rolling her eyes. "I just didn't feel like pushing through several hundred students to get to the ground. It'll be much faster just to jump off the back."

Severus looked doubtfully over the edge of the stands to the ground below; it was riddled with tree roots and at least a twenty foot drop. He had no time to voice his protests, however, as Amanda was already climbing carefully over the rail. He put an arm on her shoulder.

"At least let me go first."

Amanda merely shrugged. Severus climbed over quickly and jumped, not giving himself time to think about the fact that he had just jumped off the back of the stands and could quite possibly be falling to his doom, or at least a broken leg, at this very moment. He landed with an 'oomph' and straightened up, moving out of the way for Amanda, who landed gracefully beside him.

"There now, was that so hard?" she asked cheekily.

"You," he said, waving his arms around in the attempt to get across that she was a basket, three sandwiches, and an entire colony of ants short of a picnic, "are crazy."

"Thank you," she said brightly. "I try."

Severus grunted and started to walk away. He heard a slight exclamation behind him and turned, just in time to catch an embarrassed Amanda, who had tripped over a tree root.

"Can't you watch where you're going?" he snapped harshly.

"No," she retorted. "Your big nose was blocking all the light." She sneezed and winced slightly. "Sorry, bad habits are hard to break."

"You made it a habit to insult people?"

"I was in Gryffindor you know, we didn't mix well, too many stupid people."

He chuckled inwardly and placed her back on her feet, readjusting his cloak around her shoulders before they started off again, this time a little more carefully.

They parted ways in front of the still empty carriage and Amanda went straight to her bed. Not bothering to change her clothes or even get under the covers. Her last coherent thought was that she'd have to remember to give Severus his cloak back.

Later that evening, long before the moon rose, Madame Maxime returned, and, noticing that Amanda had left the door open, stepped quietly inside. Amanda was curled on top of the covers, wrapped in a long black cloak. Madame Maxime carefully stoked up the fire and grabbed a towel, using it to squeeze some of the water from Amanda's still dripping wet hair. She grabbed one of her enormous blankets and draped it over the woman's sleeping form before retreating, closing the door softly behind her.

Amanda didn't even stir except to tighten her grip around Severus's cloak. She wouldn't wake up until the moon rose above the tree tops, and even then she wouldn't move except to silently thank Madam Maxime for the blanket and the roaring fire.

March rolled through and Amanda still hadn't given Severus his cloak back. She rather liked it, it was warmer than hers, not that she was intentionally keeping it, it had just been a busy last couple of weeks.

Amanda raced up the stairs, irritated. She had a class to teach in a few minutes and here she was, running to the hospital wing because one of her students had gotten into a fight with a Hogwarts student. It was both a waste of her time and just plain embarrassing. This student would not be happy when she was through with him.

Eyes flashing, Amanda reached for the handle of the door, only to be knocked down when it was thrown open from the inside. There was a sharp crack when her head hit the door, leaving her seeing stars, and then a dull thunk as her head cracked on the stone floor eliminated the stars all together and successfully knocked her unconscious.

Severus looked in shock at the woman he had inadvertently knocked unconscious, blood oozing slowly from the back of her skull and a large cut on her forehead.

One of his students had attacked a Beauxbatons student unsuccessfully, being cursed far worse in the process. He was impressed with her students spell work and at the same time highly embarrassed that one of his own house had attacked the boy, he'd been trying to leave before she arrived, hoping to avoid that particular embarrassment. Obviously he'd been a little over hasty trying to get out of the door.

"Severus, why are you just standing in the doorway?" Madame Pomfrey's voice brought him back to his senses and he moved to Amanda's side, revealing her limp form to the nurse still standing behind within.

"Goodness gracious! What happened?" The old nurse rushed over, flicking out her wand to examine Amanda's head. "This is why you shouldn't go bashing doors open all the time, Severus," she accused lightly.

He growled low in his throat, knowing she was right.

He watched as Madame Pomfrey decided Amanda could be moved and levitated her to a bed, healing the majority of the cuts and wrapping a small bandage around her forehead. She lifted Amanda into a sitting position and motioned him over.

"Come and make yourself useful," she ordered.

Severus didn't even think about refusing, perhaps once being a student in her care had left him with a slight awe and respect for the nurse. He held Amanda close against his chest and tilted her chin up, allowing Madame Pomfrey to pour a foul smelling substance down her throat.

Madame Pomfrey carefully laid her back down, saying, "She only has a mild concussion; she should be awake in an hour or so. And knowing her she'll be wanting out as soon as she's up."

Severus grimaced when he remembered that she had a class to teach in a few minutes, he wondered if perhaps he should share his classroom later, she would surely want to teach her class anyways, and he wanted to see her teaching skills first hand.

He turned and left, stalking from the room quickly, though not throwing the door open as he had the first time, and making his way down to the dungeons, her class would have to be informed that their teacher was unavailable for the moment.

Amanda groaned slightly, she hadn't had a headache like this since she'd been in the hospital last year, what had happened? She remembered the door swinging open and groaned inwardly, holding her head and sitting up, ashamed that a simple door could out-do her these days. Madame Pomfrey heard her groan and rushed over, forcing another liquid down her throat before starting to unwind the bandage, asking questions all the while.

"Your name?"

"Marilyn Monroe? Why are you asking me my name?"

"You suffered a mild concussion; I need to make sure your memory is alright. Where were you born?"

"In a manger, my mother was the Virgin Mary. I don't know, a hospital maybe?"

"Your mother's maiden name?"

"What's a mother? I was born in a test tube."

"Your cheek isn't helping, _Professor_ McGonagall. I am only doing my job"

The offended nurse walked away briskly, leaving Amanda cringing and feeling just a little guilty. She slid off the bed and blinked rapidly, hit by a sudden wave of dizziness. She blinked it away and started for the door, apologizing to Madame Pomfrey as she walked out.

A bell rang and students swarmed out, all racing towards the Great Hall. Deciding this meant it was lunch time Amanda followed, intending to have a word with Severus to see if she could reschedule the day's class. It irked her to no end to know that she had missed it.

Once in the Great Hall she found him in his usual seat at the Head Table, she approached quickly and claimed the seat next to him, reaching for a roll to munch while she tried to think of a way to apologize for leaving thirty students unsupervised in his classroom. Severus, however, beat her to it.

"I was thinking that perhaps you could hold your potions class during sixth or seventh hour, I teach a double potions class but there is plenty of extra room," he said, "Unless, of course, you don't want to teach today."

"No," she said, mildly surprised. "I'm sure that will work perfectly. We'll try not to interrupt your class though." He nodded and returned to his meal, leaving her to her confusion.

Amanda eventually gave up trying to figure out this random act of generosity and left to inform her students of the change. They groaned, but at the same time were pleased, there wasn't much for them to do during the day and Amanda's classes were always entertaining, even if she was rather strict.

And so it was that the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students followed the Hogwarts students down to the dungeons for potions, confusing them thoroughly. The Hogwarts students became even more confused upon being ushered inside, the entire left side of the class was slightly separated, and Professor McGonagall the younger was waiting for them. The Hogwarts students muttered excitedly until Snape ordered silence.

"Professor McGonagall will be sharing our classroom today, I expect you all to remain focused on your work."

Amanda gathered her students around her, not wanting to interrupt her former professor.

"Today you will work in complete silence, we are already imposing and I will not have us become a further disruption. Turn to page two hundred and five and begin work on the cheering solution described there. I have removed certain ingredients from the cabinet, so you will have to think of a substitute. At the end of the class you will test your potions on yourselves so think carefully." She paused to give them each a look. "I will be watching, get to work."

Her students obediently went back to their desks, flipping through their books and reading through the potion carefully before planning out their potions. Amanda sat back, leaning against the front desk and watching Severus out of the corner of her eye. He had his back to the class and was writing the potion up on the board. She spotted Potter and his friends reading a Witch Weekly magazine under the table and frowned, hoping they would put it away before Severus found it. The potions master would not hesitate in dishing out a vile and harsh punishment, probably humiliating the boy in the process.

Amanda strolled around, looking over her students shoulders at the ingredients they had chosen and making mental notes as to who looked as if they had no idea what they were doing. She glanced up just in time to see Snape approach the gossiping trio and stand behind them for a moment, before his cold voice penetrated the near silence and alerted them to his presence, causing the three to jump in their seats.

"Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is, Miss Granger, I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor."

The whole of his class was staring at them now, and she distinctly saw a green flash of POTTER STINKS from across the dungeon.

"Ah… reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching the copy of Witch Weekly. "A further ten points from Gryffindor… oh but of course..." She saw his eyes sparkle, much as they had her first night at Hogwarts, when she'd embarrassed Black in front of the whole school. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings…"

The dungeon rang with laughter as Snape's lips curled into a most unpleasant smile. And then he began to read, pausing at the end of every line to allow a moment for laughter.

Amanda waved to her students, allowing them to laugh if they wished, she had often read notes passed in class aloud, after doing so once or twice the notes had mysteriously stopped being passed, she couldn't imagine why.

"'_Harry Potters Secret Heartache'_ …dear, dear, Potter, what ails you now?_ 'A boy like no other, perhaps…'_"

Amanda didn't think it was possible for the article could sound even worse, and she found herself relieved that she wasn't mentioned in this particular article. Hermione was a disturbing shade somewhere between red and violet, and Harry's fury seemed to roll of him in waves, and still Snape read on.

"'_Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate'_ How very touching," he added, rolling up the magazine. "Well, I think I had better separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter – that table in front of my desk. Move. Now."

Amanda turned back to her students, some of whom were still watching the scene with interest.

"I suggest you go back to your potions now," she said. "You wouldn't want to accidentally embarrass yourselves in front of all these people, now would you? Especially considering how much they love to laugh."

They looked at her, horrified. The fact that not only would they be testing their experimental potions in front of a class, but that they would obviously be highly ridiculed if they failed, was enough to make even the laziest of workers focus back on their potions fully.

Amanda couldn't help but keep an eye on Severus as he talked to Potter. She heard him accuse Potter of taking the Gillyweed, along with Boomslang Skin from his private stores. She caught him threaten the boy with Veritiserum and inwardly groaned, hoping that he wasn't holding a grudge against the boy because of his father.

She tried to force herself back to her own students, making a note to speak to him about it later, tactfully of course.

"Are you trying to commit suicide, Mr. Krum?" she asked, keeping her voice low so only her side of students would notice, there was no reason to embarrass him in front of _everyone_. "While I'm sure your competitors wouldn't mind, I believe Karkaroff would be rather upset."

The gruff quiditch player put the offending ingredient down and sat back, the gears in his head trying to come up with a way to remake his potion.

"It's too strong," she added, attempting to show him where he had erred. "If you had added that particular ingredient you would have found yourself laughing yourself to death in the front of the classroom; perhaps not the most courageous way to die," she hissed.

A knock on the door distracted her from the boy, something the world renowned quiditch player seemed grateful for.

"Enter," said Snape, his voice amazingly normal considering he had just been threatening Harry with Veritaserum. It was none other than Karkaroff; he was twisting his goatee around his finger and looked anxious.

Amanda just barley heard him tell Severus that they needed to talk, his lips didn't even appear to be moving. Snape tried to get rid of him but Karkaroff cut him off, making Snape snap at him angrily.

The Durmstrang Headmaster hovered near the front desk, alternating between watching Severus and watching Amanda. It made her uncomfortable; she didn't like others to watch her teach, especially when she wasn't at her best. Sharing a classroom with a previous professor of hers was bad enough, having Karkaroff in here too was just plain annoying. And the way he looked at her made her feel like a piece of meat.

With only ten minutes left to go, Amanda decided to hang on to samples of the students potions and have them test them later, in a different classroom. Her students looked rather relieved to hear this, especially the Durmstrang students; no one wanted to embarrass themselves in front of their own Headmaster.

When the bell rang Amanda dismissed her students instead of making them finish cleaning up, she knew that Karkaroff wanted to speak to Severus and she didn't think either of them would appreciate students listening in. Not that she thought that they would appreciate _her_ listening in either, there was just less they could do about that.

"What's so urgent?" Snape hissed.

"_This_," out of the corner of her eye Amanda saw Karkaroff pulling up his sleeve, and she knew what would be underneath, the Dark Mark.

"Well?" said Karkaroff, still not moving his lips. "Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since –"

"Put it away!" snarled Snape, his gaze sweeping the classroom and lingering on Amanda, who appeared busy putting leftover ingredients away.

"But you must have noticed –" began Karkaroff in an agitated voice.

"We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Potter! What are you doing?"

Amanda peered over a desk, surprised. She hadn't noticed Potter was still here, she, at least, had been cleaning after her class, what was his excuse?

"Clearing up my armadillo bile, Professor," said Harry innocently, straightening up and showing Snape the sodden rag he had been using. Karkaroff turned and strode from the classroom, glaring at Amanda on the way out.

Severus stalked over to where she was clearing the tables with quick flicks from her wand.

"You were eavesdropping," he said, looking livid, though whether from her, Karkaroff, or Harry, she didn't know. She sighed.

"Can you at least wait a moment? I'm at least _trying_ to be responsible," she said brightly.

He narrowed his eyes and stalked away, dumping himself into his chair and closing his eyes. This was another one of those moments where Amanda wished dearly to peek into Severus's mind and see what he was thinking, but, as always, she didn't. Instead she took her time, trying to think of something to say to appease the irate Potions Professor.

Finished with the table, and having nothing else to clean, Amanda plopped down on his desk, one leg propped up and the other left to hang. Severus opened his eyes and growled.

"Feet off the desk," he barked, pulling her leg off the desk forcefully. A little too forcefully, the sudden shift sent Amanda sliding into his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck automatically for balance, causing her to blush furiously at her own reaction. She immediately attempted to right herself, but Severus grabbed her arm, effectively stopping her.

"Eavesdropping?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Maybe a little," she said, smiling slightly. "But only because I'm a nosey little twit." Severus mumbled something under his breathe that sounded suspiciously like 'That's for sure.'

"You really shouldn't mumble, because I can't understand a word you're saying." Her playful mood suddenly vanished and she looked at him seriously. "Does it hurt?"

Severus took a moment to catch on, before he caught her glancing at his arm, where, beneath his robe, the Dark Mark sat, burned into his skin. He attempted, rather unsuccessfully, to shift away from the woman currently sitting on him; there wasn't much hope. The truth was that it did hurt, often, especially recently. But he didn't really want to tell her that.

"Severus…"

"I don't want your pity," he said harshly.

Amanda just snorted. And now she was laughing at him!

"That's good, because I wasn't offering pity." Her arms wrapped around his shoulders. "You just looked like you needed a hug and that seemed like the perfect excuse."

"I don't need your hugs either," he spat, his anger not yet abated.

"You might not have needed it, but you know you wanted it," she said, playfully pulling on his hair.

"You are so immature."

"That's why you love me!"

Severus shifted again, this time bringing her between his legs so that they would be level. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer until his mouth was mere inches from her ear, his breath tickling her neck. He could feel her heart beating wildly, almost as fast as his, which he was sure she would be able to hear.

"You shouldn't tease people," he whispered, his lips pulling back, tracing her jaw line. "It isn't very nice." She trembled violently in his grasp. He smirked, it was fun to see her squirm, for once.

"I can be nice," she whispered, barley breathing. His lips pressed hers briefly. "Very nice…" Another brief kiss. "Especially nice…" And again. "Extremely nice…"

This time he couldn't move away, no longer having the strength to resist those sweet lips. After a few seconds, or perhaps a few hours, Severus felt her fingers weaving through his hair, and became aware that he held her waist in a fierce grip. All this was forgotten again a moment later as they returned to kissing, having gotten enough air for the moment.

Eventually they pulled apart, both a little flushed. She reminded him of Lily, but Lily had never been this close. And Amanda had always been there. He just wanted to reach out, to hold her, to make sure she would still always be there. He couldn't lose Amanda too. He smirked suddenly, realizing how easily she'd gotten rid of his anger.

"So easy…" he murmured. Amanda jerked back, something long hidden stirring behind crystal blue eyes.

"What?" she gasped, not even seeming to be speaking to him. "What did you say?"

Before he could explain what he'd meant a knock at the door startled them both, causing them to jump violently. Amanda lost her already precarious balance and fell, having maneuvered out of Severus's grasp a moment ago. Her head hit the desk with a sharp crack. Severus found himself standing, perhaps in a half formed thought of catching her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, kneeling next to her. She winced and placed a hand on her head, starting to stand.

"Yeah," she said, still a little spaced. "I think… I think I should go… I have… students to find." She was up and to the door before she even finished speaking. Amanda opened it and walked out, not even acknowledging the person behind it.

Severus was left very confused. He wasn't sure what was going on. Why had she suddenly freaked out? Perhaps she had thought he'd meant she had been easy, except that was foolish, surly she didn't think he was playing her? Or maybe she had finally realized who she was kissing. He felt a sudden ache in his chest. It tore at him, making him feel like the scum of the earth.

He pushed it aside angrily. It didn't matter! Why should he care anyways? She was just some dumb little Past-Gryffindor women who had followed him around at school! She didn't matter!

Something cleared its throat a little ways in front of him.

"What?" he barked, not caring who it was. Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow but ignored his tone.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to speak with you." Severus merely grunted and stalked from the room, seething inside.

**Let me know if you think Snape went too out of character, I think he might have a couple times in this chapter.**


	20. Apart, together, and apart again

Amanda felt horrible, and not just because her back ached and the room spun every time she stood up or because she couldn't catch her breath properly, no, those were just add-ons. She also felt guilty about running out on Severus like that. It hadn't even been his fault, his words had just reminded her of memories she would much rather never think about, if at possible.

Worst of all, he was avoiding her.

She couldn't blame him, really. It must have been hard for him to open up and show his soft side the way he had. It was a side of him she didn't get to see very often, she missed seeing that part of him. And then she had just screwed up everything by running out like that.

She had tried waiting around after her class's to apologize but he had never shown up, and she was too professional to actually intrude on one of his classes, even if Karkaroff had already done so. At dinner, the only meal Severus now attended, he would arrive early and position himself between people so that Amanda had no chance to speak with him.

Amanda rounded a corner, planning how to corner Severus. He had to at least let her apologize, and then after that, if he still wanted to hate her, then she didn't know what she'd do.

There! She saw him, he was heading down to the dungeons and he didn't have a class right now. He was a good ways ahead of her, and she knew from past experience that he would go momentarily deaf if she called out to him. She broke out into a run, her light foot-falls making no noise that wasn't covered by the buzzing of students in another hallway.

His long stride carried him down a staircase and Amanda followed, jumping the last three steps and catching him by the arm, gasping for breath. She felt like a knife was being jabbed repeatedly through her ribs.

"Wait…" she gasped.

He tried to pull his arm out of her grasp but she just tightened her grip.

"Would you stop avoiding me? I've been _trying_ to apologize for the past week!" Amanda snapped.

She put a hand to her chest, her little outburst had taken away the little breath she'd had left.

"Very well, I'd appreciate if you'd just say it, I have better things to do than listen to your prattle," he said coldly. His words sent a new knife of pain jabbing into her heart, making her numb. Her fingers slipped from his arm.

"I… I just…"

She mentally shook herself, fine, if he wanted to be that way, she would just apologize and leave him alone, she was good at leaving people alone, and she'd left them all alone for the past eleven years, after the tournament she could return to it. The thought made the knife seem bigger, blunter, and more painful.

"I just wanted to apologize for freaking out the other day, your words just reminded me of something someone once said to me, and it made me rather uncomfortable. I didn't mean to offend you." She turned swiftly, ignoring the sudden wave of dizziness that it brought. "I guess I'll let you get back to whatever it is that's so important to you."

She started to walk away, mind completely focused on walking straight, to keep herself distracted, to block out the sudden feeling of loss, and hurt. Even when she'd left there had still been people she could rely on, who did she have now? Not Severus, certainly not her mother. She couldn't bother Dumbledore, and Charlie still thought she was dead as far as she knew. No, when she returned to Beauxbatons, it would be without any ties left in Europe.

Severus flinched at her words, finally realizing the error in his judgment of Amanda. It had been a stupid assumption, now that he thought of it, they'd been friends for years, she had written to _him_ every Christmas, and she had kissed _him_ during the Tournament's Winter Ball.

He saw her sway and reached out, catching up to her easily.

"Are you alright?"

"Peachy," she grumbled.

He looked at her closely, she was shivering slightly, and her normally pale complexion had reached ghostly depths.

"You're sick," he accused. "Why are you not in bed?"

"Well, I've been running after you, haven't I?" She slid down the wall. "I'm just a little tired."

Severus wasn't surprised that she was sick; Amanda had gotten sick a lot. She didn't take care of herself properly, she was always outside, in the cold, always awake, and she didn't eat enough either.

"You need to take better care of yourself," he said, kneeling down beside her.

The truth was that Amanda had been perfectly fine a few years ago, in perfect health, but now, now she was lucky if by the end of the day she didn't feel faint. But she was still getting better, she could run around, and aside from today, feel fine.

Amanda wanted to ask 'why?' It wasn't like there was anyone who cared.

"Why?" she asked, her tongue getting the better of her.

Severus looked shocked. What did she mean 'why?'

"So that you won't be sick all the time. So that you won't _die_." She looked at him blankly.

"What does it matter?"

Severus was taken aback, surely she didn't think that know one would care if she suddenly vanished. He wanted to find the right words to reassure her, but they wouldn't come.

"You would leave your students?"

"They'd be happy to get rid of their evil teacher," she said dismissivly.

"Your colleagues?"

"One less person to get in the way before they can become headmaster." Severus was about to try again, but she cut him off. "I managed to alienate my mother and you rather well. And most of my friends still think I'm dead, courtesy of my own cowardice; I still haven't written to them."

"Dumbledore?"

"He's busy; I was just the little girl he used to visit." Severus leaned forward, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"You really are screwed up in the head if you think none of these people would miss you."

Amanda didn't answer, instead averting her eyes to avoid his gaze, so dark and piercing.

Severus stood up abruptly, pulling her up with him and swept them both down to the dungeons, Amanda stumbling more then once on her unsteady legs. He led her to his rooms in silence before pushing her down on the couch and busying himself. He called for some tea from a house elf and stoked the fire, handing her a tea cup without a word. When they had both finished their tea and were just sitting quietly by the fire he spoke, in a voice so soft and unlike him that Amanda barley even realized that he had been the one to speak.

"It matters to me," he said. Amanda's shocked and sleepy mind couldn't process this, she couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell her.

"What?"

"I want you to take care of yourself," he said. He reached out and made her look at him again. "Promise me."

An image of little kids pinky-swearing crossed through her head, but she resisted the urge to grin, Severus was serious, he really did care. It surprised her a little, sure she'd been one of his only friends at school, and sure she was really the only person he would talk to voluntarily, but she'd always assumed that he just tolerated her more then others.

She nodded, "alright," she rasped.

She took his hand, sitting cross legged, and put it in her lap. His skin was smooth between her fingers, and she rubbed little circles on his palm in the silence that followed. Severus just watched her, knowing that eventually she would come to some decision and then everything would be okay.

He was right, a moment later Amanda looked back up at him, she was smiling broadly.

"If you keep this up you are _never_ going to be able to get your reputation back."

Severus just rolled his eyes. Amanda scooted over until she was leaning on his shoulder and took his hand again, running her fingers over it idly. He closed his eyes, relaxing under her soft finger tips.

He wasn't sure how much time passed like that, but after awhile he became aware that her fingers were no longer running over his palm, he felt her yawn a moment later. Severus smirked and scooped her into his arms, deciding that it was about time they both got some rest.

His bedroom had changed since last Amanda had been in it, not that she'd really looked around the last time. There was a book resting on a table, a rug covered the cold floor, and a stack of letters sat at the far end of a desk, all in all it looked much more lived in, almost cozy. Of course, like last time, Amanda noticed none of this as Severus laid her sleepy form gently on the bed and pulled the blankets to her shoulders before climbing in himself.

She was turned away from him so Severus reaching out and drew her to him, her back to his chest and his chin on the back of her neck. His breath tickled her skin, sending a shiver down her spin and making him smirk slightly. He nuzzled the visible part of her neck and felt her tense and hunch her shoulders. He drew back immediately but didn't let her go.

"Amy?"

"Sorry," her voice sounded odd. "It's nothing."

"'Nothing' makes you hunch over into a ball," he said sarcastically. He ran his fingers down the back of her neck and felt her tremble. "What happened?"

"It's nothing, really."

"Did someone hurt you?"

Well duh, of course they had hurt her; otherwise she wouldn't be curled into a little ball right about now would she? She didn't answer at first and he began to think she wouldn't, which did nothing to ease the sudden rage that was welling inside of him. He was about to sit up and make her tell him when she spoke.

"Not exactly," she murmured, grudgingly.

"And what does that mean, _exactly_?" he growled. She flinched and moved so she could see his dark eyes better.

"He kidnapped me," she whispered, "and when I woke up, he was there, and I –" She broke off, her hands unconsciously wrapping around her stomach as images flooded her mind. "I got away though."

It seemed she was talking more to herself then to him. He slipped one of his hands under her own to rest on her stomach and just held her tight against him, he didn't know what else to do.

"I don't want to hurt you," he whispered.

She entwined her fingers with his and tried to scoot even closer to him, basking in the warmth and security his arms provided.

"I know."

Ever since that night a few weeks ago in Severus's quarters she had felt better, more relaxed. They had been spending even more time together as well, often staying up into the wee hours and reading together, or just talking, even falling asleep on the couch a few times, only to wake up stiff but happy. And Amanda _was_ happy; Severus made her feel safe, secure, she trusted him.

Amanda panted and scratched behind her ear happily. She was sitting, in wolf form, just outside the Owlery. Having spent the evening trying to annoy Severus while he was reading without actually saying anything – it had worked – she was doing him a favor and sending out the orders for new potions supplies while he graded the papers she'd kept him from the night before.

She heard voices ahead of her and transformed, not wanting anyone to see her in this form, and stepped around a corner, waiting for them to pass by. She had only become a wolf because it was faster, and she wanted to get back and help Severus finish.

"–That's blackmail, that is, we could get into a lot of trouble for that –" It sounded like George, or maybe Fred, it was hard for her to tell. Amanda briefly wished she'd been around to see them as children; the Weasleys had been like a second family to her.

"–we've tried being polite; it's time to play dirty, like him. He wouldn't like the Ministry of Magic knowing what he did –" She thought that might be Fred, he was a little more assertive then George, she'd noticed.

"I'm telling you, if you put that in writing, its blackmail!"

"Yeah, and you won't be complaining if we get a nice fat payoff, will you?"

The door banged open loudly and the voices halted immediately upon entering.

"What're you doing here?" Sounded like the voice she'd decided was Fred and Ron said at the same time.

"Sending a letter," said what sounded like Harry and George.

"What, at this time?" Hermione and Fred. Amanda rolled her eyes, would they keep talking like this forever?

"Fine," said Fred. "We won't ask you what you're doing, if you don't ask us." There was a moment's pause in which no one said anything.

"Well," said Fred, "don't let us hold you up."

"Who're you blackmailing?"

"Don't be stupid, I was only joking."

"Didn't sound like that."

"I've told you before, Ron, keep your nose out if you like it the shape it is. Can't see why you would, but-" Ron interrupted.

"It's my business if you're blackmailing someone. George's right," – she'd been right about the voices – "You could end up in serious trouble for that."

"Told you, I was joking," said George abruptly. "You're staring to sound a bit like our dear older brother, you are, Ron. Carry on like this and you'll be made a prefect."

"No, I won't!"

"Well, stop telling people what to do then. See you later."

Amanda stepped back around the corner, waiting for them to walk by. She was going to have a word with them; she definitely owed the Weasley family enough to keep on eye on them when she could, even if she did have to stick her nose in their business to do it. They stepped past her, not seeing her, and she fell in behind them. She waited until they were far enough from the Owlery that they would not be overheard before speaking.

"Boys," she said, making them both jump and whirl around. "I think we need to talk." She gave them both the evil eye and they squirmed.

"Were you eavesdropping, Professor?" Fred asked. "It's not polite, you know."

"That's teaching us bad manners, that is."

"And we shouldn't hang around with people who are setting a bad example." They turned and tried to get away with a swift walk but she caught them by the shoulder and spun them back around.

"Nice try, but you're not as fast as Charlie." They looked at her incredulously.

"You knew Charlie?"

"I did," she admitted. "And Bill, and your father, and your mother. I also happen to know that if they find out that I let you two get into serious trouble it would hurt them deeply. I don't intend to let that happen." She looked into their eyes, hoping that they were listening.

"I'm not going to ask what you're doing," her mouth quirked, "or to who. But I want to know that you aren't doing it just for money. That would be very… foolish." They shifted awkwardly under her gaze.

"It's not just about the money."

"It's a matter of pride." Amanda straightened up.

"Alright, I'll leave it alone. But watch yourselves, okay? Your parents have enough to worry about without you landing yourselves in Azkaban for blackmailing some Ministry official."

Voices were heard behind them and the boys scampered of quickly, Amanda turned back, she still had to deliver the letter for Severus. She met Harry, Ron and Hermione on the steps; they were staring at something in the snow with confusion.

"Professor McGonagall," said Ron, "have you seen a dog around here? There are paw prints in the snow." Amanda mentally berated herself, snow, _duh_. So much for no one knowing. She shrugged it off, shaking her head at the group and ran up the steps, careful not to slip on the ice.

The Owlery was noisy, owls hooted from every corner of the room. One in particular caught Amanda's eye, it was black and silent, brooding in a corner of the large room. Amanda had never had an owl; a school owl had always been available to her so there had been no point. A cat or a toad had been the only other animals that were allowed at Hogwarts and she hadn't really wanted one of them either, so she'd gone without a pet.

The owl hopped obediently onto her outstretched arm and stuck its foot out, waiting for the letter.

"You are obviously Severus's owl," she said, idly tying on the letter. "Only he could get one to behave so well." The large owl blinked resentfully at her. "Don't look at me like that, I like him too."

He hooted and nipped her finger lightly before stretching his wings and soaring out the window. Amanda chuckled to herself; she had just had a conversation with an _owl_. She needed to find someone other then Severus to talk to.

Preoccupied with this thought, she didn't hear the light footsteps approaching the door, and didn't even see the door coming at her until it collided with her face. Amanda's eyes watered immediately and her hands flew up to cradle her now broken nose. Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, looking shocked.

"What is with you and Severus?" Amanda cried, instant tears filling her eyes. "Maybe we should _all_ throw doors open violently, see how long it takes before everyone's nose is broken." She prodded her nose gently and winced at the added pain. "Jeez, you're my mother for heavens sake. When you're mad at me you're supposed to give me a stern talking to, not bash my face in with a door. Bloody hell!"

Professor McGonagall rushed forward, holding back a smile at her daughters' outburst. She pulled Amanda's hands away from her face and pulled out her wand.

"Here let me see." Amanda gave in and stood there, feeling very much like a kid coming in after their first fight to an over-worried mother. A strange sickly warm feeling ran up the bridge of her nose, passing after a moment and leaving Amanda to scrunch up her nose, just to see if she could.

Minerva stared at her grown daughter pulling twisted faces and laughed a full and cheerful laugh. Amanda stared at her for a moment before joining in, it was too hard not to. Eventually they both stopped and the elder McGonagall turned serious again

"This is silly," she said. "We shouldn't be avoiding each other all the time."

Amanda sighed.

"It does get rather tiring."

"I take it you're not going to tell me why you left then?"

Amanda shook her head.

"I'm afraid that if you haven't figured it out then telling you wouldn't help in the slightest." She grinned a little, trying to take the edge off her words a little. "Besides, what's done is done.

"Very well, I'll see you at dinner then?"

"Depends on how many more times a door hits me in the face. I swear this castle has it in for me."

"Probably getting you back for all the times you pranked the school." Amanda turned around in surprise, a hand on the door. "If you thought I didn't know that snowball prank was yours then you are sadly mistaken. I'm willing to bet you were behind some of the other pranks as well." Amanda laughed.

"If you thought I was only behind _some_ of the pranks that went on while I was in school, then _you_ are the one who is mistaken."

With that she swung open the door and skipped off down the steps, smiling cheerfully. She ran all the way down to the dungeons, pausing to take a breath before slipping into Severus's office.

"That certainly took you long enough," he said, still grading papers. "Did you get lost?"

"My mother broke my nose; it held me up a bit." Severus looked up at her in shock, before giving her a sly smile.

"So you finally drove her out of her mind and made her attack you?"

"Ha ha, that was so funny I forgot to laugh. It was an accident; at least I hope it was an accident. She hasn't been very friendly with me these past few weeks."

Amanda had sauntered over to his desk and was now standing between him and the papers he'd been grading.

"I can see why," he grumbled. Amanda wrinkled her nose.

"I thought we were going to be nicer."

"If I remember correctly," he said, standing up so he towered above her. "You were the one who said you could be nice, not me."

Amanda mentally berated herself for not realizing the position she'd allowed herself to be maneuvered into. She tried to slip away but his arms were firmly planted on the desk on either side of her, he had her trapped, and knew it.

"I'm not very good at being nice."

"You are entirely too nice," he said, leaning forward even more, so their lips were a mere inch apart.

"Really?" she said, no longer paying attention and instead feeling herself slipping into his dark eyes. Her lips brushed his when she spoke and a tingle swept down her spine. He pulled her forward slightly and caught her lips softly. Amanda stood on tip toe so that he wouldn't have to lean down so far and he chuckled.

"Midget," he murmured.

"If you sit down then you wouldn't have to lean down," she suggested. He smirked down at her.

"Perhaps, but if I'm not standing here then you might fall down."

"Ha ha," she gave pushed him away and he sat down, pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her waist. Amanda was now higher up then him and she ruffled his hair playfully.

"Midget," she accused. He spread his legs and she yelped, wrapping her arms around his neck. They were now about eye level, with her just a little lower. Severus smirked again.

"You were saying?"

"Cheater," she mumbled and buried her face in his shoulder, nuzzling his neck. Severus laughed and stroked her back absently. She sighed.

"I'll bet you get this a lot," she murmured, with just a slight bit of sarcasm, "but your shoulder is extremely comfortable."

"Oh yes, that's _exactly_ what they say about me."

"Good, I'd hate to think you'd been letting anyone else sit in your lap."

"Because so many people have tried," he said, still just as sarcastic.

"Good to know you turned them all down," she said, still just as playful as ever. He rolled his eyes and looked over at his desk, there was still a pile of papers waiting for him from the last time she had distracted him. He sighed.

"I really have to finish grading these, you know."

"Can I help?"

"I'd have to go over every one of them afterwards and fix all the mistakes that you let them get away with."

"I am very strict when it comes to schoolwork." Severus snorted.

"Oh yes, I can tell." Amanda raised an eyebrow and climbed off his lap. He caught her arm, an apology coming unbidden to his lips.

"I have to get a real chair now," she said, cutting him off. "Unless you want me to sit on you're lap all night, because I certainly don't mind."

Severus pulled her back, positioning her to sit just in front of him, between his outstretched legs. He silently thanked the stars that he hadn't exchanged the chair for a smaller one after fat old Professor Slughorn had retired. He kissed the back of her neck before resting his chin on her shoulder and getting to work.

Severus was pleased to find that Amanda was, in fact, a very tough grader; after checking her first couple of graded papers he decided that it was fine and stopped checking her work. He mentally slapped himself, of course she was a tough grader, he'd seen what she'd done with her own papers as a student, and it was only natural for her to search for the same perfection in others papers.

An hour of peaceful work passed, with Severus keeping one arm around her waist so that she wouldn't fall off and grading with the other. He happened to glance over and see the paper that she had just graded.

"Is that Potters?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Amanda glanced back over at him, surprised.

"Yes it is. Why?"

"If he got that high of a score then you are either being too soft or he cheated." Amanda looked affronted.

"I am not going soft on him, and how do you know that he cheated?"

"Potter is as lazy and arrogant as his father."

"Are you saying that because of the father?" she asked softly. Severus grunted.

"Or because of Lily?"

"What?" he gasped.

"He reminds you of her, doesn't he? And you loved her." Severus didn't reply, he didn't know what to say. He couldn't deny it. Amanda stood up.

"I need to check on my students," she said coolly, "and you're out of papers to grade. Re-grade Potters if you want."

Severus stared at the paper in front of him for several minutes, he had no doubt that she had graded it just as she would any other students; Amanda had never been one to pick favorites, helping and dishing out insults to anyone she felt deserved it. He tried to think of how she had known he'd loved Lily and then snorted. Of course she had known, how often had he come to her for advice about Lily, or when his temper had gotten the better of him? Severus felt a twinge of guilt when he thought of all the times he had pushed her away, when she was really the only friend he'd had.

Amanda had always stuck by him, defending him when Potter and his gang decided to attack, and with tact too; she'd never held it over him, or even mentioned it. To her it had just been as if she was evening the odds a bit. He recalled the time she had found out about his Dark Mark. She'd stuck by him then too, but there had been this great look of disappointment on her face, as if she'd lost her best friend.

And now… he didn't know. She let him hold her, let him kiss her, even sought him out when he was in a bad mood just to cheer him up. And he didn't know why. She knew he was a Death Eater, why did she let him so close?

But she didn't know what he had done to Lily, that it was his fault that she and James had died, that Harry was without his parents. Amanda didn't know how much he could hurt her. She was just lonely and missing her friends. She was too nice to push him away and as soon as she saw some of her other friends she would leave him alone to sulk in his dungeons.

Severus sighed, perhaps it was for the best; he didn't want to hurt her. But he couldn't avoid her; he couldn't bear to not have her at all. He would just have to hold back, and be her friend, nothing more.


	21. It's carrot war!

A few days later Amanda passed Harry and Ron talking urgently on the way to the Great Hall.

"I'm telling you, there's no way he gave you that score!" Ron exclaimed. "He's going to poison you or something."

"He wouldn't _really_ kill me," Harry said, sounding unsure. "Not in the school."

"Then how else do you explain that grade?"

"I don't know, maybe he reckons I'll die in the third task."

Amanda chuckled quietly, finally realizing what they were talking about. It seemed as if Severus hadn't changed Potters grade after all. She swept passed them quickly and made her way to the head table, slipping in next to Severus. She leaned over so that only he could hear.

"I heard that Potter got a decent grade in Potions." Severus grunted.

"He seems to think that it means that you are plotting to kill him." Severus looked up at her in surprise, before an evil glint came into his eye.

"That's a bonus I'd never thought of before."

"Well, you know what they say, 'smile at your enemies, it confuses the hell out of them.'" He pushed her away from him.

"They do not say that!"

"Well they should," she said, "it's true." He grunted again and went back to his food. Amanda smiled mischievously.

"If you look now you'll have just enough time to smile at him," she said, "the expression on his face should be wonderful."

Severus looked up and spotted Harry, just as the boy had looked at him. He couldn't manage a smile in the boy's direction so Severus just nodded in polite acknowledgment and cast his gaze away. Amanda had been right; the boy's reactions were beautiful. Mr. Weasley was now on the verge of panic and Potter had this look on his face like he was trying to decide weather to run, wet his pants, pull his wand out and attack, or some strange combination of the three. They rushed over to their table and started an urgent conversation with Miss Granger that involved several frantic glances in his direction.

Beside him Amanda was shaking with silent laughter, hiding her face as best she could behind her bangs. He was trying as best he could not to show his own mirth, the boy was still watching and it wouldn't do for the rest of the students to see him laughing either. There wasn't a thing he could do about his own silent laughter, however, and soon the two had attracted the attention of several of the other teachers.

Flitwick looked rather frightened, where as McGonagall just raised an eyebrow and Dumbledore positively beamed at the two jovial professors. Madame Maxime also looked rather pleased and Karkaroff just looked on disdainfully. Severus and Amanda straightened up immediately and poked at their food, small smiles twitching at their lips.

When no more strange stares were passed their way Amanda allowed a small smile to grace her features and Severus chuckled lightly.

"I can't believe you never thought of doing that," Amanda said, stifling a childish giggle.

"It never really occurred to me that I could freak him out like that just by being somewhat kind," he admitted.

"Oh yeah," she said, "and the best part is that no one can say that you're being unfair."

A small commotion at the Ravenclaw table immediately caught their attention. A Durmstrang boy had his wand out and was confronting a small group of Beauxbatons students. One of the Beauxbaton boys stood up angrily. Amanda was up and on the other side of the table before Severus was finished puzzling this information together. She swept silently up behind the Durmstrang student, the hall eerily quiet.

"I trust," she said, her voice frighteningly cold, "that the two of you have _very_ good explanations as to why you are disgracing your schools in such a way."

The Beauxbatons boy looked abashed, but the Durmstrang boy drew himself up in anger.

"I have disgraced no vone!" he cried.

"I think you're Headmaster feels differently, perhaps you would like to explain it to him?"

Amanda stepped to the side so that the head table could clearly be seen, Karkaroff looked livid. Amanda had spoken quietly, in the tone of one person speaking to another right in front of them, and yet the whole hall had no trouble hearing her, it was so quiet. Karkaroff walked briskly around the table and came to stand before the small group.

"You had better have a good explanation for this, Kosovo!" The boy looked defiant, although he had deflated quite a bit.

"They," he said, pointing to the Beauxbatons students, "are a bunch of cheaters!" Amanda's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I think it would be a good idea to take this conversation elsewhere."

Karkaroff agreed, as did Dumbledore.

"Perhaps," he called from the head table, "my office would be more appropriate?" It was quickly agreed to. Karkaroff marched off, with his student in tow.

"We shall see to this later, Mr. Stephens."

The boy sank into his seat and Amanda swept away, following Madame Maxime to Dumbledore's office. It was a large circular room, the walls lined with bookshelves and portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses. Fawkes crooned softly when she entered and she smiled at him, he was considerably smaller then last she'd seen him, he must have burst into flames recently. The portraits on the wall feigned sleep, badly. Karkaroff rounded on his student immediately.

"Would you care to explain yourself, Kosovo?"

"They," he repeated, pointing this time at Amanda and Maxime, "are cheating!" Amanda's eyes flashed once again.

"If we were cheating, don't you think we would do a better job? Last I'd checked Fleur was in last place."

"They attacked Krum, and a Triwizard judge!" he accused. "It happened just outside their carriage, they are trying to sabotage us! It is a conspiracy!" Madame Maxime bristled.

"I 'ave not come 'ere to be insulted, Karkaroff, control your student!"

Karkaroff merely looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Professor McGonagall makes a good point;" he said smoothly, "if they were the ones behind this then surely Miss Delecour would be winning. But perhaps Professor McGonagall is not working to advance Miss Fleur."

"What are you trying to say, Headmaster?" Amanda growled.

"I accuse you, Professor McGonagall of sabotaging your school and mine as well!"

"That is absurd!" Madame Maxime shouted, but Karkaroff cut her off.

"Think about it," he said. "She was in the perfect position to slip Potters name into the Goblet. How much of her past has she hidden from you? She didn't even tell you that this was her school and it is obvious that they are friends, she and Dumbledore have been conspiring together against us!"

"My past is my business and I need not tell everyone about it. I would have thought you of all people, Karkaroff, would understand about _that_."

"What are you trying to say, my dear?" he asked, walking forward until he was standing right in front of her, his face inches from hers. Amanda curled her lips in disgust.

"You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about, Karkaroff." He sneered and grabbed her arm in his iron like grip and growled lowly.

"I would not say such things if I were you."

There was a sound of several robes rustling behind him and Karkaroff turned around to see two wands pointing directly into his face. Dumbledore's eyes glowed fiercely and Madame Maxime looked outraged.

"I would not stand so close, if I were you, 'eadmaster," she said lowly.

Karkaroff stepped away immediately, throwing his hands back as if Amanda's flesh had burned him. The portraits were no longer feigning sleep, they were instead glaring angrily at the Durmstrang Headmaster; Amanda had been one of their favorites.

"I do not think," said Dumbledore as he stowed his wand back in his robes, "that any of us here attacked Mr. Krum or Mr. Crouch."

Karkaroff still bristled, and Madame Maxime still glared, as did the portraits.

"Now," he continued calmly, "would anyone like to join me for a calming drink?" Amanda snorted softly, only Dumbledore could offer them all a drink as if they hadn't just been pulling their wands out on each other. Karkaroff marched out the door.

"Come, Kosovo."

Madame Maxime followed them out, informing Amanda that she would deal with Stephen later. Amanda stood for a moment trying not to look into Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes; she had lost control of herself and let him down. Fawkes crooned again, before taking wing and landing gracefully on her shoulder, wrapping his long tail around her neck like a scarf.

"I would like to apologize; I should not have let my temper get the better of me." Dumbledore stepped forward and lifted her head, which had previously been staring at her shoes.

"You were defending yourself and your school, how can I be mad at that?"

"You didn't look particularly happy about it," she mumbled. Dumbledore chuckled and pulled her into a hug, careful not to dislodge Fawkes.

"I'm still rather protective of my godchild, I'm afraid."

The portraits showed their approval with small cheers of "too right!" and "no one messes with our Amy!" Amanda chuckled.

"I think some hot chocolate would be most appropriate, don't you?" Amanda smiled gratefully. A knock was heard at the door and Professor McGonagall stepped in.

"What's this I hear about messing with Amanda?" she asked.

"Igor just became a little over zealous after Amanda made a comment to him. It was quickly fixed." Minerva gave Amanda a stern look.

"You let your temper get the better of you again, didn't you?"

"Yes," Amanda said, trying not to bristle at her mothers disapproving gaze.

"Amy and I were just about to have some hot chocolate, would you care to join us, Minerva?"

There was no hope of denying Dumbledore, and so they all retired to his private study. It was warm and spacious, decorated with blues and greens, and in the sunlight, the stained glass windows would cast rich warm colors throughout the room. Minerva and Amanda arranged themselves in two large armchairs and Dumbledore joined them a moment later with three steaming mugs of hot chocolate, each topped with a little marshmallow cream.

It was an interesting evening, to say the least. Amanda and her mother couldn't seem to agree on anything. If they spoke of the tournament, it almost seemed as if Minerva was commenting on Amanda's teaching skills and how they were affecting her student, whilst Dumbledore piled on the praise about how well Fleur had managed with the dragon. In other subjects Amanda would voice an opinion and Minerva would appose it, with Dumbledore pointing out the merits to both sides. After awhile Amanda stopped voicing her opinion, instead listening intently and making non-committal statements, to which her mother would say, "Come on then, we know you have an opinion, you always do."

Even with Fawkes crooning in her ear, after an hour or two Amanda had had enough. She had a head- ache, was tired, and really didn't feel up to defending herself from her own mother, or listening to Dumbledore try to do so on her behalf. She stood up abruptly.

"I'm afraid it is getting late, and with the third task tomorrow I feel I should check on Fleur and insure that she isn't pacing around the carriage." She inclined her head to both of them. "Good night mother, Albus. I shall see you in the morning."

Various versions of 'good night' followed her out the door, with Fawkes leaving her shoulder her only when she had reached the main doors. Amanda stepped out into the cool crisp air and sighed with relief, rubbing her temples. She loved her mother dearly but sometimes she annoyed her far too much. Amanda basked for a few moments in the light of the moon and stars, savoring the peace and quiet. Eventually she turned to the carriage, ready to face Fleur, who was by now probably frantic with nerves.

She was not disappointed; Fleur was pacing wildly around in circles, while Madame Maxime watched on hopelessly from the doorway looking just as nervous as her student. Fleur pounced as soon as Amanda entered the door.

"Madame McGonagall!" she cried in French, "Please, you have to help me train!" Fleur continued to babble on in distressed French but Amanda just slipped past her and disappeared down the hall. She returned a few minutes later with three glasses of tea, one was actually just a glorified glass jug, but that wasn't the point.

Fleur gulped hers gratefully, almost forgetting to say thank you, while Amanda and Madame Maxime sipped theirs more slowly. Amanda watched Fleur closely, waiting.

"Professor McGonagall," said Fleur. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she said. "When you get up in the morning be sure you eat a good breakfast, you'll need your strength."

"Get up in the morning," Fleur exclaimed, "how can I get up if I'm too tense to even fall asleep –" She fell like a rock, her glass shattering on the wood floor. Amanda didn't even miss a beat, calmly catching the girl before she hit the floor and downing the rest of her tea. Madame Maxime gaped.

"You drugged her?" Amanda looked away.

"Drink your tea," she said, walking away with Fleur hanging over her shoulder. "And you're going to want to lie down" she called back.

After getting the finally sleeping Fleur into bed Amanda walked to her own room, fighting off the drowsiness that she had unleashed on them all. Madame Maxime was already climbing into bed when she walked through.

"I can't believe you drugged me," she grumbled.

"Well, when you finally fall asleep maybe you won't feel so doubtful."

Amanda closed the door behind her and changed quickly before stumbling to her bed. She passed out quickly, barley having enough time to pull the blankets over her head. Her last conscious thought was that maybe she'd made the tea too strong.

Breakfast was a very noisy affair the next day. The biggest topic, however, was not the third task, which was going to take place that evening, but the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. Amanda snorted suddenly, struck by an odd thought. She leaned over to Severus.

"Apparently Dumbledore has a fondness for violence," she whispered. Severus raised an eyebrow.

"I thought that paper was about Potter."

"According to it, 'anyone who seeks out the attention of such vicious creatures as werewolves and giants would appear to have a fondness for violence.'" Severus looked stricken.

"In that case he must be planning a massacre this very minute."

They glanced over at Dumbledore and he did indeed look thoughtful. Amanda burst into giggles at the thought of Dumbledore attacking anyone who wasn't a Death Eater and Severus tried to smother a chuckle.

"You are the epitome of childishness," he muttered.

Amanda nudged his arm.

"You laughed too. Well, you made this odd sort of chuckle type noise." Severus raised an eyebrow but she didn't stop. "Maybe if you opened your mouth and sort of relaxed a bit, it can't be good to bottle it all up. I mean come on; I'm down right hilarious, think of what you're doing to my self esteem when you don't laugh at my jokes." Severus smiled and rolled his eyes.

"There," Amanda said, "see? You have a nice smile; you should do it more often."

"Only around you," he said, glaring around at the rest of the room. Amanda froze, positive she hadn't heard right. She smiled softly at him.

"Aw, look at that, you're ruining your reputation on your own now."

"No one heard that," he scowled, "and I'll thank you not to repeat it." Amanda just giggled again.

"I'm going to take a walk for awhile, I'll see you at lunch."

He grunted in acknowledgement and returned to his coffee.

Outside the grounds were alive with sunlight and the dancing of leaves in the wind. Not far away Harry was showing the Weasley's around the grounds. She hadn't seen them yet but it wouldn't be long before they saw her.

Harry was about to show them the Beauxbatons carriage.

"They have these humongous winged horses, with hooves the size of dinner plates! And their Headmistress, Madame Maxime, is almost as tall as Hagrid; she completely dwarfs their Deputy Headmistress. Charlie?"

Charlie had stopped, and was looking at something near the lake.

"Charlie," Bill said, noticing that his brother wasn't responding. "What –" Charlie had started moving, more like running, towards the lake.

"Amy!"

The figure by the lake turned, and froze. Amanda stared in shock; she didn't know what to do. How would he react to her return? She really hoped he wouldn't be angry.

Charlie slowed down when he got closer until he was standing in front of her, not knowing exactly what he wanted to say. In the background, Harry, Bill and Mrs. Weasley were approaching. Amanda suddenly lashed out, her fist connecting with Charlie's jaw and sending him into the ground at her feet. Charlie gaped at her.

"Eleven years later and you _still_ remember that?" Amanda helped him to his feet.

"I did warn you, you know."

There was a moment where they just looked at each other, neither knowing what to do.

"I missed you," she said.

"Yeah? Me too."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Charlie reached out and pulled her to him.

"Yeah," he whispered, "me too."

Amanda threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. Charlie returned the embrace, placing a hand on the back of her head to hold her to him.

Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Harry had finally caught up.

"Charlie," Bill panted, "what is going on? Who is that – Amy?"

Charlie and Amanda had separated, letting Bill get a good look at her. He hadn't changed much, his hair was longer, he was taller, and he had a fang in one ear, but other than that he was the same Bill.

"It's good to see you, Bill."

He grabbed her out of Charlie's arms and crushed her against his chest, ruffling her hair in the process.

"You little scamp," he said affectionately.

"Bill! Come on, how would you like it if I messed with your hair?"

He laughed and released her. But that wasn't the end of it; Mrs. Weasley scooped her up from behind, nearly crushing the woman in her arms. Amanda gasped in pain, Mrs. Weasley was squeezing her stomach so hard she thought her guts would surly be crushed.

"Air," she gasped, "I must breathe to _live_." Mrs. Weasley released her and turned her around, looking her over.

"It's so good to see you! You look so grown up, and so pretty! But you look half starved, my dear. You'll have to come over and I'll fix you a nice home made meal. Your welcome any time; Arthur would love to see you!" Amanda laughed.

"Always the doting mother, are six children not enough to worry about?" Mrs. Weasley blushed a bit.

"Sorry dear, a habit, I suppose. But it's seven children, actually."

"Congratulations! Ron seems nice enough, and Fred and George are quiet the pair." Harry looked between the two women and the grinning Charlie and Bill.

"You know each other?" Charlie and Bill laughed.

"Of course," Charlie said, "Amy and I went to school together, and we were best friends."

"They were inseparable," agreed Bill, "Amy was a cross between Fred, George and Hermione; always getting up to something and never getting caught." He looked at Amanda sternly and she scowled.

"Don't look at me like that; you are _not_ a prefect anymore." Charlie nudged her arm.

"He might not be, but you're still short."

Harry invited Amanda to walk with them, and she gladly accepted, basking in the warm glow of seeing her old friends again. They returned to the castle for lunch.

"Mum – Charlie – Bill!" said Ron, looking stunned, as he joined the Gryffindor table. "What're you doing here?"

"We've come to watch Harry in the last task!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly. "I must say, it makes a lovely change, not having to cook. How was your exam?"

"Oh… okay," said Ron. "Couldn't remember all the goblin rebels' names, so I invented a few. It's all right," he said, helping himself to a Cornish Pastry, while Mrs. Weasley looked stern, "they're all called stuff like Bodrod the Bearded and Urg the unclean; it wasn't hard."

Amanda tried not to laugh.

"What about you, why're you down here?"

Charlie rounded on Ron.

"Why didn't you tell us Amy was here?" he asked fiercely.

"You know her?" he said, causing Charlie and Bill to look pointedly at him. "Wait? You mean this is _The_ Amy?"

"_The_ Amy?" Amanda said, looking at them incredulously. "I'm some sort of celebrity now?"

"Oh, Charlie and Bill told the boys all about you and the mischief you used to get into. I rather think you inspired Fred and George." Charlie blushed and Bill tried to look dignified.

"Who's supposed to have inspired us now?" Fred plopped down on the other side of the table, George and Ginny joining him.

"Guys!" exclaimed Ron, gesturing wildly at Amanda and upsetting his goblet of juice. "It's _her_! The one they're always going on about, from school!"

"What? You mean the master prankster?" said Fred.

"Who got all her Owls and all her Newts?" George continued, it sounded almost like they were rehearsing a list.

"Who was friends with people from every house and rarely sat at her own table?"

"Who had a _centaur_ rescue her from a lake?"

"Who constantly broke the rules under the ever watchful gaze of Professor McGonagall without getting caught?"

"Who started a snowball fight in the Great Hall?"

"Who befriended Peeves and together terrorized both the underclassmen and professors alike?"

"Who –"

"Enough!" cried Charlie, now a shade of purple that would probably make a doctor have a heart attack. Bill was about the color of his hair and was trying to look the other way inconspicuously. Amanda gaped. Ron was nodding frantically.

"Yes, yes, _her_!" He pointed at Amanda. Now it was Fred and Georges turn to gape.

"You're kidding!"

"_No_! It's _her_!"

Fred leapt to his feet and reached over the table, taking Amanda's hand and shaking it profusely.

"My hero," he said. George raised his glass.

"Cheers!" Amanda buried her face in her hands, having swiped one back from Fred.

"Charlie," she growled, "I am going to _kill_ you."

"Ron," Charlie growled, "I am going to kill _you_."

"There will be no killing of anyone, this is a joyous occasion," said Mrs. Weasley, "and I expect you all to behave."

"Yes mum," they all chorused. Bill looked at her oddly

"I don't remember her having _you_."

"Sorry, habit. I think I spent way too much time at you're house."

"Nonsense, you were and still are always welcome. Now," said Mrs. Weasley, piling some mashed potatoes onto Amanda's plate, "eat your potatoes, you've lost weight since I saw you last and you were a growing girl at the time."

The Weasley's all snickered at Amanda's meek expression as she tasted her mashed potatoes. In the end she had made a masterpiece potato mountain, complete with little carrot people and a river of molten gravy. Charlie's corn people attacked the little carrot people while the other Weasley's rooted for the battling vegetables. It was just like old times.


	22. The Third Task, Part 1

Up at the head table Severus tried not to glare, his prediction was coming true; now that her friends were around she wouldn't need him. Lunch ended and Severus swept quickly from the hall, now glaring fiercely at anyone he passed.

"Severus!" It was her, he kept walking. "Severus, wait!" He stopped.

"I'm sorry I missed you at lunch, maybe after the third task we could –"

"I have more important things to do than prattle around with you!" he snapped, interrupting her. Amanda watched him walk away.

"Severus!"

He didn't stop, he didn't even turn around, he just kept walking. Amanda watched him go, confused. She took a step back, unconsciously reaching towards the necklace he had given her. It was another one of those times where Amanda had to resist the urge to enter his mind and find out for herself what was wrong.

"Amy!" It was Charlie, he and the others were waiting for her. She plastered a small smile on her face, smiling was easy, laughing was easy, it was telling herself that she didn't care that was really hard.

Amanda spent the whole afternoon with Charlie, Bill, Harry and Mrs. Weasley, leaving them only for a few moments when Fleur wanted to introduce her to her parents. It was an enjoyable afternoon but she just couldn't seem to get Severus's odd behavior out of her head. Charlie and Bill seemed to notice she was a bit distracted, and near the end of the afternoon Charlie took Amanda to the side, leading her to the lake.

"I noticed you still have that necklace," he said.

Amanda looked down at it, she had been unconsciously fingering it all afternoon.

"Yeah," she said.

"Did you ever find out who gave it to you?" She grimaced.

"Yes, although at this point it might not matter." Charlie motioned for her to take a seat next to him on the ground.

"What happened?"

"I… I don't know." Charlie watched her for a long moment; she was staring out at the lake, still fingering the necklace.

"Was it Severus?" he eventually asked. Amanda looked up at him, surprised.

"How do you know?"

"You were my best friend, did you think I wouldn't notice how much time you spent with him, or the way you worried when You-Know-Who fell?" She smiled and leaned into him, comforted by her old friend.

"I'm sorry I didn't write," she whispered.

"Why didn't you?"

"Because you would try to make everything better, and I couldn't take that." Charlie rested his head on hers, thinking over what she had said.

"You do realize that sometimes you make absolutely no sense, right?" They laughed. "Come on, it's time for dinner."

They returned to the castle once again, only this time Amanda had to sit at the head table. There was only one seat left when she arrived; it seemed she wouldn't get to talk to Severus tonight. She ended up between Professor Flitwick and Ludo Bagman. Down the table Madame Maxime was staring at her plate and her eyes looked red, from the other side of the table Hagrid was watching her through watery eyes. Cornelius Fudge had also joined the table, but he wasn't talking. From the far end of the table sat Severus, glaring down at his plate. Professor McGonagall was tense and nervous looking, and Moody's eye was whirring around wildly, he too, looked nervous. Amanda sighed and picked at her food; it seemed that no one was destined to have a good meal tonight.

From the Gryffindor table Charlie and Bill waved sympathetically. Amanda just rolled her eyes and ate quietly. As the enchanted ceiling overhead began to turn from blue to dusky purple Dumbledore rose to his feet and silence fell.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch field for the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now?"

Amanda, along with Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick got up and followed the champions to the field.

The Quidditch field was completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in the middle, and beyond it the passage was dark and ominous. Within a few minutes the five of them had adorned the red stars that meant they were going to supervise the champions in the maze. Amanda had hers on the back of her robe and Hagrid wore his on his moleskin vest, but the others had affixed the red star to their hats.

They approached the champions, who by now all looked rather nervous. Professor McGonagall stepped forward to address the champions.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze. If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescue, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

The champions nodded.

"Off you go, then!" said Bagman brightly. Amanda and her fellow patrollers walked away, going to position themselves around the maze.

From her place, Amanda could just hear Mr. Bagman announce the order. Harry and Cedric would be entering first, followed shortly by Mr. Krum, and finally, Fleur would enter last. The cheers that accompanied each champions name sent birds fluttering from the Forbidden Forest and high into the darkening sky. Amanda briefly wondered what all the noise must sound like to Gryis and Firenze.

The maze was dark and forbidden looking; much more so then the Forest had ever seemed to her. A strong mist seemed to swirl around the entirety of the maze and the area around it. She had to stand a long time before she heard anything other then the occasional noise of the crowd.

A scream split the air, _Fleur._ Amanda scanned the air for red sparks, both hoping they wouldn't appear and at the same time praying that they would. It wasn't that much longer before more screams were heard; only this time they weren't from Fleur. Eventually the screams stopped, and a moment later red sparks flew into the sky.

Amanda blasted a hole through the hedge and shoved herself through, for once thankful to be small. The hedge immediately closed behind her, cutting her off from the outside world. Keeping in mind where she had seen the sparks go up she quickly blasted her way there. Krum was lying on the ground, the hedge slowly pulling him inside, as if eating him alive.

She severed the vines quickly and hoisted Krum upon her back, he was heavy, but she didn't want to use her wand to lift him, she would need it. Amanda walked steadily back to where she had entered the maze, though much slower then before.

Suddenly, off to the right, a spell shot out from outside the hedge. Who was stationed down there, and what did they think they were doing? Perhaps it was not the smartest thing to do, but she had to know. Amanda started for the place where she had seen the spell come from and blasted a hole through the hedge.

Moody stood on the other side, looking shocked for just a moment, before his face twisted into a cold, evil sneer. His wand shot out, and with Krum on her back Amanda had no chance of defending herself in time and she flew backwards, creating yet another hole in the maze. Krum landed next to her with a grunt and Moody's cold laughter filled the air unnaturally.

"I am sorry about this Amanda, but I can't have you ruining things now, can I?"

His wand lashed out again and suddenly Amanda found herself without a wand at all, and the hedge leading to the outside was closing. She wasted the last moment in which she could see him by glaring, there was nothing else she could do.

Amanda hurriedly searched for Krum's wand and found that it too was gone, she groaned and stood up. There was nothing around them, something that both relieved her and frightened her; what was waiting around the corner? Krum was getting sucked under the hedge again and this time she let him, it was a safety protocol after all. If one got sucked under the hedge then nothing could attack them, but at the same time you would be trapped, trapped until someone finished the maze and even longer, until someone realized you were missing and then you were found.

She left Krum there, she had to find someone and tell them what was going on, it was obvious Moody was up to something. And if she waited until someone came looking it would be far too late. Without a wand she couldn't even tell which direction she was going, eventually she would either get out of the maze or find one of the champions, unless something killed her first, of course.

Moody would be watching, of that she was sure. With him watching she didn't want to transform, it was her ace in the hole, her secret weapon, and so she walked. The path was so dark it was hard to see, and the hedges seemed to groan in the wind.

It wasn't long before she started to hear noises, though from which direction she didn't know. Amanda sped up. And then she heard it, a low snarl and a soft hiss, accompanied by three sets of glowing eyes.

Its scales glowed in what little starlight reached filtered through the hedge, its fur gleamed and its claws were long and sharp. The hedge nearest to her was brown and black, burnt by the creature before her, a Chimaera. It bore the great head of a lion, and its tail twisted around so that the snakelike head was clearly visible. From within its great mane stood the head of a goat, its horns gleaming and its nostrils flared. It was huge, and it was going to try and kill her.

It lowered itself to the ground, preparing to pounce. Amanda took a step back, thinking desperately. She recalled Hagrid mentioning once that Chimaera eggs were nearly impossible to get, it seemed that he had gotten one after all.

The serpent tail hissed and she turned to look at it. A great ball of flame shot at her from the goats head, and, realizing her mistake, she dove. But this too had been part of the clever Chimaera's plan, now that she was on the ground, unable to run, it sprang, claws flashing.

This was all too familiar; Amanda rolled and lifted her leg, smashing her foot into its lion's eye. It roared and its claws scrabbled on either side of her, the serpents head lunged and bit deep into her shoulder. Amanda screamed in pain. She wriggled until she was under its belly and rolled out from under it, getting up and quickly running behind it. The serpents head lashed out again, slicing into her leg.

She cried out in pain and crawled away, waiting until she had moved out of its reach to get up and run again. The chimaera was too large to turn properly, and so had to run backwards, she was just barley faster then it.

Amanda didn't know what to do, she couldn't run forever, and soon enough she would have to give away her wolf form just to keep moving. And there were other creatures in the maze as well. She kept running.

Rounding a corner Amanda found her salvation, a sphinx. The chimaera would not attack a sphinx; all she had to do was get past it. She ran faster, the sphinx was pacing, it looked at her as she ran forward, it opened its mouth to speak but she dove to pass it, if she was in front of it then the chimaera could still get her, this way she would be at least even with it.

The sphinx lunged, catching her between its paws and falling to the ground, pinning her beneath its giant paws. The chimaera rounded the corner and saw them, now it too was growling, though much louder and from three different places. The sphinx spoke.

"I do not know where you are going, but the safest thing is to get past me, or else he will attack."

"I take it you are not going to just let me pass, even if I'm not supposed to be in here anyways?"

"No," it said. "But if you can answer my riddle I'll let you pass, answer wrongly and I'll attack, remain silent and you must go back and he'll attack."

"I thought so. Well then, we might as well get started."

The sphinx sat up, between her and the chimaera in the middle of the path, and recited: I never was, am always to be, No one ever saw me, nor ever will, And yet I am the confidence of all, to live and breathe on this terrestrial ball."

Amanda thought, laying on the ground in front of the sphinx, and with a chimaera growling nearby, in a maze that she was never supposed to enter except to rescue champions, and just wished for tomorrow, when all this would be over. She was reminded of a saying from Uncle Albert, not her real uncle but a man who had lived down the road from her. He had always said, 'Jam today, that's pish posh, but jam tomorrow, that'll keep me going forever.' It was the hope that tomorrow brought that kept people going. Amanda's eyes widened. _Tomorrow_!

"Is it, tomorrow?"

The sphinx smiled broadly and the chimaera roared. Amanda rose to her feet and faced the sphinx, ignoring the chimaera who could no longer get to her.

"I have a question for you, if that's alright?" The sphinx just nodded. "Can you tell me in which direction the cup lays?"

"You would have to return to the direction you came from, and answer another riddle."

"No, thank you, I want to go this way anyways. Good bye!"

She dashed off, limping slightly from her leg. Amanda was lucky; it was some time before she saw anything else.

She was walking along and shrill screams cut through the night, making Amanda slow to nearly a stop. And then she turned a corner and stopped, horrified. The way in front of her was covered in blood, and when she turned around the way behind her was as well. She started to shake. Something warm trickled from her hands and she stared, not believing her eyes. Blood coated them. She looked to the moon; it was now full and glowed brightly in the sky. Blood splattered on her face from out of nowhere, the smell clogging her nose and the metallic taste filling her mouth.

Amanda broke into a run, she wanted to get away, this couldn't be real, it was just a maze trick. But it kept getting worse, the screams were getting louder and when she turned the corner she saw bodies. Students of old, friends from her school days, Amos, Fred, George, Harry, Fleur, Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, Dumbledore, her mother, and at the end, Severus. Every body had been slashed or bitten to death by some sort of large creature.

"NO!" she screamed, clutching her head and closing her eyes, running faster then ever. "This isn't real! It can't be!"

As she ran the screams got louder, and then they changed, they didn't sound like the last terrified screams of a victim anymore, just the screams of frightened people who didn't know what was going on.

She saw a light, the opening to the maze. Amanda ran through it blindly. Outside, no one noticed her; they were all crowding around something in the middle of the field. Amanda tried desperately to find Dumbledore, Madame Maxime, anybody who could help her find Harry.

Oh, how she wished they would stop screaming though. It was deafening, and she was already disoriented from blood loss and her last run through the maze. Now outside of it she realized that she must have encountered a Bogart, but that didn't take very much of the fear off.

Someone had run over to her, they were saying something, she thought it might be her name. But she couldn't make it out, her mind was still frozen in fear and she couldn't stop shaking. Another one joined the first; they were supporting her now, keeping her from falling. Charlie and Bill.

"Amy! Are you alright? You're bleeding."

She looked down at her hands, the blood had vanished, but her shoulder was still bleeding profusely and her leg was positively gushing.

"Where's Harry?" she asked, staring up at Charlie urgently.

"I don't know, he went somewhere with Moody, probably the Hospital Wing."

"Where's Dumbledore?"

"I don't know. Look, Amy, you need to go to the Hospital Wing." She grabbed his shoulders.

"Charlie! Moody tried to _kill_ me, and you're saying he took Harry somewhere? I _need_ to find Dumbledore!"

Charlie paled, and Bill ran off to see if Dumbledore was still in the crowd.

Telling Charlie why she had to find Dumbledore was the last thing she managed to do before blood loss and fatigue finally caught up with her and she collapsed into Charlie's arms.

Up at the castle, in Professor Moody's office, sat Harry, with Moody's wand aimed directly over his heart.

"You had an easier time of it than you should have in that maze tonight, of course," said Moody. "I was patrolling around it, able to see trough the outer hedges, able to curse many obstacles out of your way. I stunned Fleur Delacour as she passed. I put the Imperius Curse on Krum, so that he would finish Diggory and leave your path to the cup clear. And when little Amanda caught me blasting obstacles out of your way I disposed of her in the maze."

Harry just stared at Moody. He couldn't believe how this was possible… Dumbledore's friend, the famous Auror… the one who had caught so many Death Eaters… it made no sense… no sense at all…

"The Dark Lord didn't manage to kill you, Potter, and he so wanted to," whispered Moody. "Imagine how he will reward me when he finds I have done it for him. I gave you to him – the thing he needed above all others to regenerate – and then I killed you for him. I will be honored above all the other Death Eaters. I will be his dearest, his closest supporter… closer then a son…

"The Dark Lord and I," said Moody, now towering above Harry and looking completely mad, "have mush in common. Both of us, for instance, had very disappointing fathers… very disappointing indeed. Both of us suffered the indignity, Harry, of being named after those fathers. And both of us had the pleasure… the very great pleasure… of killing our fathers to ensure the continued rise of the Dark Order!"

"You're mad," Harry said, unable to stop himself. "You're mad!"

"Mad, am I?" said Moody, his voice rising uncontrollably. "We'll see! We'll see who's mad, now that the Dark Lord has returned, with me at his side! He is back, Harry Potter, you did not conquer him – and now – I conquer you!"

Moody raised his wand, he opened his mouth; Harry plunged his own hand into his robes –

"Stupefy!" There was a blinding flash of red light, and with a great splintering and crashing, the door of Moody's office was blown apart.

Moody was thrown backward onto the office floor. Harry, still staring at the place where Moody's head had been, saw Albus Dumbledore, Professor Snape, and Professor McGonagall looking at him out of the Foe-Glass. Dumbledore stood in front, his wand outstretched.

At that moment, Harry fully understood for the first time why people said that Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look on Dumbledore's face as he stared down at Mad-Eye Moody was more terrible than Harry could ever have imagined. There was no benign smile, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as though he were giving off a burning heat.

He stepped into the office, placed a foot underneath Moody's back and kicked him over so that his face was visible. Professor McGonagall went straight to Harry.

"Come along, Potter," she whispered. "Come along… hospital wing…"

"No," said Dumbledore sharply.

"Dumbledore, he ought to – look at him – he's been through enough tonight –"

"He will stay, Minerva, because he needs to understand," said Dumbledore curtly. "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be full recovery. He needs to know who has put him through the ordeal he has suffered tonight, and why."

"Moody," said Harry. "How can it have been Moody?"

"This is not Alastor Moody," said Dumbledore quietly. "You have never known Alastor Moody. The real Moody would not have removed you from my sight after what happened tonight. The moment he took you, I knew – and I followed.

Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess, and then go down to the kitchens and bring up the house-elf called Winky. Minerva, kindly go down to Hagrid's house, where you will find a large black dog sitting in the pumpkin patch. Take the dog up to my office, tell him I will be with him shortly, and then come back here."

If either professor thought these instructions were weird, they hid their confusion. Both turned at once and left the office. Dumbledore went over to the trunk with the seven and fitted the first key in the lock and opened it. He inspected the contents for a moment before closing the trunk and moving on to the next lock. He did this again and again, until he reached the seventh lock. Inside was a kind of pit, and lying at the bottom, some ten feet below, was the real Mad-Eye Moody.

Dumbledore climbed into the pit and jumped lightly to the ground beside the sleeping Professor. He bent over the professor and wrapped a cloak around him before clambering out of the trunk again. Then he picked up the hip flask that Moody always carried and turned it over. A thick glutinous liquid splattered to the floor.

It wasn't long after that that Minerva and Severus returned with Winky in tow. Dumbledore revived the fake Moody and gave him the Truth Serum. Dumbledore lowered himself so that they were at eye level.

"Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"Yes," he muttered.

Dumbledore proceeded to ask him a series of questions that lead to the story of how the young Mr. Crouch came to escape Azkaban then from his father. He told them of how he turned the tables on his father and imprisoned him with the Impirius Curse and set himself up in Moody's place, all in the service of the Dark Lord.

He told them of how he managed to ensure that Harry would get into the tournament, and win. How he killed his father and hid the evidence. Apart from Winky's sobs that he should not be telling his fathers secrets the room remained silent. Then Dumbledore said, "And tonight…"

"I offered to carry the Triwizard Cup into the maze before dinner," whispered Barty Crouch. "Turned it into a Portkey. My master's plan worked. He is returned to power and I will be honored by him beyond the dreams of wizards." He smiled an insane smile and Dumbledore stood up with a look of disgust on his face. He raised his wand and robes flew out of the end, twisting themselves around Crouch and binding him tightly. He turned to Professor McGonagall

"Minerva, could I ask you to stay here while I take Harry upstairs?"

"Of course," said Professor McGonagall. She looked slightly nauseous. However, when she drew out her wand and pointed it at Crouch, it was quite steady. Harry was struck by something that Moody – the fake one – had said.

"Professor Dumbledore," he said urgently. "Professor Moody, I mean Crouch, said he had disposed of Professor McGonagall in the maze."

The tension in the room, which had been high before, now rose to a whole new level. Professor Snape now fixed Harry with his dark eyes, looking for some sign that the boy was joking. Dumbledore instantly whirled back around to question Crouch, the cold fury once again etched in his face.

Professor McGonagall, however, beat him to it.

"Explain," she said, her voice tense and her lips twitching as though she were about to cry out in anger or fear.

"I attacked Amanda McGonagall. She had seen the sparks in the sky and went to fetch the boy, Victor Krum. As she was leaving the maze once again, she saw a spell coming from outside of the maze. When she got close enough I attacked. I sent her and the boy flying and then took their wands, leaving them in the maze."

"And then…" prompted Dumbledore.

"Amanda left the boy to be sucked under the hedge and moved on. She was looking for someone; she was going to alert them to my treachery. But she wouldn't be able to survive the maze without her wand. She eventually ran into a chimaera and it attacked her. I left her then, and went back to ensuring that Potter would win, she was no longer an issue, I heard her screams and knew she was dead."

A strangled sob seemed to rip from Professor McGonagall's throat, it was terrible. Professor Snape looked angry and disbelieving, _No, not again,_ he thought. Dumbledore seemed to age a lifetime with that single cry from McGonagall's lips. She turned, robes billowing around her, and made for the door, she was going to find her daughter.

"Minerva," said Dumbledore softly.

But she never made it out; someone was running down the hall, towards them.

"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Dumbledore, its Moody – he put Potters name into the Goblet, he tricked us all."

"I'm afraid you are a little late, Mr. Weasley, we know. It has been taken care of," said Dumbledore softly. He looked up at Bill, a question burning in his eyes. "How did you know?"

"Amy was trying to find you," he said. Professor McGonagall leapt up and Professor Snape stared at Bill intently. "She ran out of the maze, covered in blood, and asked where Harry was. After that she told us she had to find you."

"Where is she?" asked Professor McGonagall, looking rather ill.

"She's with Charlie, probably on their way to the hospital wing."

"Go," Dumbledore said, waving Minerva towards the hospital wing. "Bill, would you kindly take Harry up to my office before you return to your family?"

"Of course."

"Severus, please go down to the grounds, find Cornelius Fudge, and bring him up to this office, I am sure he will want to question Crouch himself. Tell him I will be in the hospital wing in forty-five minutes time if he needs me."

**Sorry if the end was a bit abrupt, this and the next chapter were going to be one big chapter, but at that point it was almost thirty pages long in Word, so I had to split it. Review please, reading review from you guys is definitely the best part in all this.**


	23. Part 2

Snape nodded silently and swept out of the room. Dumbledore followed him out, going straight to the hospital wing. When Bill had said Amanda had been covered in blood he had not been exaggerating, it was smeared down her shirt in the back and front from her shoulder, and it dripped from her leg onto the floor, Filch would have a fit.

Amanda was leaning heavily on Charlie, her eyes half open and his arm the only thing holding her up. Professor McGonagall was sitting on her other side, holding her arm out so that Madame Pomfrey could get at it better. Mrs. Weasley was also there, sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed.

"Madame Pomfrey, when you are done here would you mind going down to Professor Moody's office and taking care of him?"

Madame Pomfrey just nodded, not wanting to get distracted. Not being distracted turned out to be impossible, however, as a shrill note range through the air and Fawkes flew into the room.

He fluttered into the room and landed on Amanda's lap.

"Fawkes," she whispered, "It's good to see you."

He trilled a long note and Amanda's eyes closed fully. Fawkes leaned up and let a few silvery teardrops fall onto her shoulder, Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes.

"Don't see why he couldn't have done that a few minutes ago," she muttered. "Since I'm obviously no longer needed here I will go down to Professor Moody's office. And you lot," she pointed to everyone crowded around Amanda's bed, "had better let her sleep."

They all milled around, not sure what to say. Amanda, with her eyes still closed and Fawkes still crying in her lap, said, "Well, this is fun. Does anyone happen to know where my wand is?" Professor McGonagall tried to make her lay down.

"Why don't you go to sleep right now, and when your wand is found we'll have it brought up here."

Amanda opened her eyes and looked at her, and for the first time it struck them all just how different Amanda was from the bright little girl that had left all those years ago. Her blue eyes were haunted by unspeakable nightmares and terrors that had long been pushed into the back of her head.

"I'd rather not sleep right now, if that's alright?"

It wasn't a question; it was a statement only said in the form of a question to sound polite. Fawkes gave a small cry and soared into the air, he circled once over Amanda's head and then flew off, out of the hospital wing and down the corridor. They returned to absolute silence, and after a few moments Amanda became uncomfortable.

"What happened?" she asked, looking around at all the solemn faces. No one met her gaze, Professor McGonagall coughed uncomfortably.

"Cedric Diggory was killed," she whispered, "by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Amanda leaned back, shocked and dazed.

"Amos?"

"He's down with Professor Sprout," said Charlie, "she was his Head of House." Amanda sighed.

"What about Fleur and Mr. Krum?"

"Fleur is alright, she was found awhile ago, and Krum's just a little dazed."

"What about Madame Maxime, and Karkaroff, how are they taking these newest developments?" Professor McGonagall smiled softly.

"You're not responsible here, you need to relax."

Amanda sighed once again and turned so she could see the door better. This seemed to be a good idea because at that moment Dumbledore walked in, followed by Harry and a large black dog. _Sirius!_

Mrs. Weasley let out a sort of muffled scream and started forward.

"Harry! Oh Harry!"

Dumbledore stepped between them.

"Molly," he said, holding up a hand, "please listen to me for a moment. Harry has been through a terrible ordeal tonight. He has just had to relive it for me. What he needs now is sleep, and peace, and quiet. If you would like to stay with him," he added, glancing at Ron and Hermione, "or with Amanda," he glanced at the other Weasley's, "you may, of course, do so. But I do not want you questioning him until he is ready to answer, and certainly not this evening." Mrs. Weasley nodded and rounded on Ron, Hermione, Bill and Charlie, as though they were being noisy.

"Did you hear? They need quiet!"

"Headmaster," said Madam Pomfrey, eyeing the great black dog that was Sirius, "may I ask what –?"

"This dog will be remaining with Harry for awhile," said Dumbledore simply. "I assure you, he is extremely well trained." Amanda couldn't help but snort a little at the thought of Sirius being 'well trained.' Dumbledore ignored her, a slight twitch to his lips the only thing that gave away that he had heard her. "Harry – I will be back to see you as soon as I have met with Fudge. I would like you to remain here tomorrow until have spoken to the school tomorrow. Minerva, if you wouldn't mind?" Professor McGonagall nodded and stood up beside him.

Harry climbed into bed while Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall left and Sirius sat down next to him, still staring at Amanda. After a moment of tense silence he said, "I'm alright, I'm just tired."

"Harry," Amanda said, eyes never leaving the great black dog. "What's your dog's name?"

"Snuffles," he said, looking at the two oddly. Amanda snorted and the dog barked quietly.

"Nice to meet you, _Snuffles_." He jumped up onto the bed next to her and started to lick her face. "Get off you flea-bitten mongrel! I'll bet you picked that name, so don't take it out on me when people laugh!"

A moment later the dog had disappeared, leaving a rather shaggy and old looking Sirius on her bed, nearly pushing Charlie off.

"It's a very respectable and believable name for a dog!"

"What happened to 'Padfoot'?"

"Wormtail knows that name, and he works for You-Know-Who now, really, you used to be smart, what happened?"

She looked away uncomfortably.

"I've been away for awhile; I haven't gotten caught up on all that goes on in Britain except what the papers print. And they still say he's dead, so excuse me for not being psychic."

"Then why didn't you freak out when you saw me?" he asked, looking confused.

"I may despise your guts, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to blame you for something I know you couldn't have done."

"How sweet," he sneered. "I think I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good," she said, "that way I we'll still be even when I tell you that those wrinkles have only gotten larger." The others just stared in shock at the pair as they whispered harshly at each other; Charlie had moved to stand beside Ron.

"You're no picture of perfection yourself; I see those bags of yours have only gotten larger."

"At least I don't have fleas."

"You know what," he said, looking thoughtful. "I think the only reason you insult me so much is because you like me, and this is the only way you can think of to get me to pay attention to you."

"Yes," she said dryly, "because there's just something about a guy that tries to kill me and then drives a pole into my guts that attracts me to him."

"You know what, it's obvious that I don't like you, – I mean who would? And you don't like me. So maybe we should just agree to stay as far away from each other as possible."

"Fine," she said, "let's get started."

She shoved him off the bed forcefully and he landed on his rear end. Mrs. Weasley chose this moment to step in.

"You two are behaving like children! Sirius, there was no need to pick a fight, especially after what she's been through tonight." Amanda interrupted.

"Go back," she hissed. They looked at her oddly. "Go away,_ Snuffles_." Sirius caught on and transformed just as the hospital wing door flew open. Madame Maxime, in all her large glory strode in. Amanda slid out of bed to meet her.

"Sit, you are resting."

"I need to speak with you," Amanda replied in French.

Madame Maxime stopped and waited for Amanda to continue. Amanda filed her in on everything that had happened, both within the maze and without it, only leaving out her encounter with the Bogart. Afterwards Madame Maxime looked unsure.

"You believe these people?"

"I trust many of them with my life, and the lives of those I hold dear. If Dumbledore says that it happened like that then it did." Madame Maxime considered the deputy headmistress in front of her for a few moments.

"Very well," she said eventually. "You may tell Dumbledore that he has the full support of Beauxbatons Academy. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. How is Fleur?" Madame Maxime reached into her robes and fished out a wand, Amanda's wand. She handed it to her before answering.

"She is fine, go rest." Amanda turned back to her bed, muttering to herself, "I wish people would stop telling me to do that."

"They wouldn't have to if you would just do it!" Madam Maxime called back. Amanda rolled her eyes and crawled into bed. She lay there, staring at the ceiling for at least ten minutes and no one said anything. Normally this would be fine with her, but not tonight, she didn't want to think.

"Are you all going to sit there for the next couple hours without saying anything?" she asked quietly.

"It would seem so," said Charlie, he had moved back to sitting next to her on the bed. Amanda looked up at him.

"What have you been up to?" she asked. He looked down at her, smiling slightly.

"A bit of an odd time to ask, isn't it?" Amanda shrugged.

"What else am I going to do?"

"Sleep?" he suggested. Amanda just looked at him until he put up his hands. "Alright, alright! Enough with the death glare already. I've been working with dragons."

"Congratulations! Tell me about it."

Charlie spent the next half hour or so telling Amanda about his work with dragons. It was fascinating, and the excited way Charlie talked about it showed that he really enjoyed the work.

Almost half an hour later they heard raised voices, they were arguing, loudly. Charlie stopped talking to listen. The other Weasley's started whispering harshly.

"They'll wake him if they don't shut up!"

"What are they shouting about? Nothing else can have happened, can it?" Amanda could make out the voice of her mother, but she didn't quiet recognize the other one. Mrs. Weasley was on her feet.

"That's Fudges voice," she whispered, "and that's Minerva McGonagall's, isn't it?" she glanced over at Amanda for confirmation. "But what are they arguing about?"

"Regrettable, but all the same, Minerva –" Cornelius Fudge was saying loudly.

"You should never have brought it into the castle!" yelled Professor McGonagall. "When Dumbledore finds out –" The hospital wing doors burst open and Fudge strode in, Minerva and Severus hot on his heels.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Fudge demanded of Mrs. Weasley.

Amanda, however, was the one who sat up and spoke.

"He's not here," she said coldly, in a voice that had Snape written all over it, except for those who had been taught under Amanda, who would have said that Snape's voice just oozed of Amanda. "And I will thank you to stop shouting, this is a hospital wing."

Fudge took a step back and Dumbledore strode through the doors.

"What has happened?" said Dumbledore sharply, looking from Fudge to Professor McGonagall. "Why are you disturbing these people? Minerva, I'm surprised at you – I asked you to stand guard over Barty Crouch –"

"There is no need to stand guard over him anymore, Dumbledore!" she shrieked. "The Minister has seen to that!"

Amanda narrowed her eyes, it took a lot to make her mom lose her calm exterior and snap at _Dumbledore_, Fudge must have really screwed up.

"When we told Mr. Fudge that we had caught the Death Eater responsible for tonight's events," said Snape, in a low voice that Amanda recognized as him trying to keep himself under control, "he seemed to find his personal safety was in question. He insisted upon summoning a dementor to accompany him into the castle. He brought it up to the office where Barty Crouch-"

"I told him you would not agree, Dumbledore!" Professor McGonagall fumed. "I told him you would never allow dementors to set foot inside the castle, but-"

"My dear woman!" roared Fudge, "as Minister of Magic, it is my decision on whether I wish to bring protection with me when interviewing a possibly dangerous-"

But Professor McGonagall drowned him out.

"The moment that – that thing entered the room," she screamed, pointing at Fudge and trembling all over, "it swooped down on Crouch and – and –" It didn't matter that she couldn't find the words to complete her sentence; it was obvious what had happened. Barty Crouch Jr. no longer had a soul, he was worse then dead.

"By all accounts, he is no loss!" blustered Fudge. "It seems he has been responsible for several deaths!"

"But he cannot now give testimony, Cornelius," said Dumbledore. He was staring at Fudge as if seeing him for the first time. "He cannot give evidence about why he killed those people."

"Why he killed them? Well, that's no mystery is it? He was a raving lunatic! From what Severus and Minerva have told me, it seems as though he thought he was working under the orders of You-Know-Who's instructions!"

"Lord Voldemort was giving him instructions, Cornelius," Dumbledore said. "Those people's deaths were mere by products of a plan to restore Lord Voldemort to his full strength. And as of tonight, he has." Fudge was looking at Dumbledore as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.

"You-Know-Who… returned? Preposterous. Come now, Dumbledore…"

"As you have been informed, Barty Crouch's confession was heard by several people. He told us of his escape from Azkaban, and how Voldemort used him to capture Harry. The plan worked and I tell you, he had returned, Cornelius." A small smile dawned on Fudge's face. He glanced at Harry for a moment before turning back to Dumbledore.

"You are – er – prepared to take Harry's word on this, are you, Dumbledore?"

In the following moment, only Sirius's low growl broke the silence. Amanda briefly wished she could be a wolf right now so that she could rip him to shreds, but then the Bogart in the forest came back to her and she dismissed the thought disgustedly.

"Certainly, I believe Harry," said Dumbledore, his eyes blazing, "after hearing all the stories they all make sense, everything that has happened since Bertha Jorkins disappeared last summer."

"You are prepared to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, on the word of a boy who… well…" Fudge shot Harry another look and Sirius growled even lower. Amanda stood up.

"Dumbledore is not the only one who will stand by Harry; Madame Maxime has already pledged the full support of Beauxbatons Academy." Fudge turned red and glared at Amanda.

"You see, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "you cannot deny that he has returned or you will lose the only chance we have to stop this before it is too late."

"That proves nothing!" he yelled. "It is no secret that this woman is very close to the Hogwarts staff, is it? Of course she would talk her headmistress into believing whatever Dumbledore says!"

There was a moment in which the room seemed to radiate pure outrage. Severus's dark eyes were blazing, Minerva was shaking, her hands balled into fists and angry red blotches appeared on her face; Dumbledore was once again radiating that sense of indefinable power. Sirius, even, was growling on her behalf. Charlie moved to take a step forward, his face livid, nearly the same color as his hair, but Amanda held up a hand. She took a step forwards, so that she could look Fudge in the eye.

"It is true that I trust Dumbledore implicitly," her voice was calm and icy, it penetrated the mind and blocked out all other thoughts, "but he has never given me a reason not to, nor has he ever given you one either. And though I have only been here for a year, it is obvious that Harry is by no means insane, as anyone who has talked to him could well understand." Fudge took a step back, but Amanda followed him, not giving him time to argue. "Can you deny that all the stories match up?"

"Well, no – but –"

"Then why can you not believe what is right in front of your face?" Fudge was spluttering, trying to come up with an effective argument.

"That – that is not the only factor!" he spluttered angrily, "the boy can talk to snakes, Dumbledore, and you still think he's trustworthy?"

"You fool!" cried Professor McGonagall, "Cedric Diggory, and Mr. Crouch! These deaths were not the random acts of a lunatic!"

"I see no evidence to the contrary!" shouted Fudge, his face now purple. "It seems to me, that you are all determined to start a panic that will destabilize everything we have worked for, for the last thirteen years!"

"He is back," repeated Dumbledore, "and the sooner you accept this, the sooner we can take steps that may be able to save the situation. You must remove the dementors from Azkaban," Fudge gaped, "and send envoys to the giants immediately, Cornelius."

"Insane," whispered Fudge, trying to back away. "Mad…" And then there was silence. Madame Pomfrey was standing frozen at the foot of Harry's bed, her hands over her mouth. Mrs. Weasley was still standing over Harry, as if to prevent him from rising. Charlie had not moved from when he had tried to defend Amanda, and Bill still had a restraining arm on his shoulder.

"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the way. You must act as you see fit. And I- I will act as I see fit."

Fudge looked as though Dumbledore had just come at him with his wand.

"Now see here, Dumbledore," said Fudge, weaving a finger. "I have always given you free rein, always. I might not have agreed with some of your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me –"

"The only one against whom I intend to work is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."

It seemed Fudge could think of no answer for this. He rocked backward and forward on his small feet for a moment and spun his bowler hat around in his hands. Finally, he said, with a hint of pleas in his voice, "He can't be back, Dumbledore, he just can't be…"

Snape strode forward, past Dumbledore, pulling up the left sleeve of his robes as he went. He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.

"There," Snape said harshly. "There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it turned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disappirate, and Appirate, instantly, to his side. This Mark has been growing clearer all year, Karkaroff's too. Why do you think he fled tonight? We both felt the, mark burn. We both knew he had returned. Karkaroff fears the Dark Lord's vengeance. He betrayed too many of his fellow Death Eaters to be sure of a welcome back into the fold."

Fudge stepped away from Snape too. He was shaking his head, and did not seem to have taken in a word of what Snape said. He stared, apparently repelled by the ugly mark on Snape's arm, then looked up at Dumbledore and whispered, "I don't know what you and your staff are playing at, Dumbledore, but I have heard enough. I have no more to add. I will be in touch with you tomorrow, Dumbledore, to discuss the running of this school. I must return to the ministry."

He had almost reached the door when he paused. He turned around, strode to the foot of Harry's bed, and pulled a large sack from his pocket.

"Your winnings," he said shortly.

He crammed his hat onto his head and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The moment he had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the group surrounding the two beds.

"There is work to be done," he said. "Molly… am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?"

"Of course you can," said Mrs. Weasley. She was white as a sheet, but she looked resolute. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for muggles that has held him back in the Ministry all these years."

"Then I need someone to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the ministry who are not so shortsighted as Cornelius."

"I'll go to dad," said Bill. "I'll go now."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened here. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry-"

"Leave it to me," said Bill.

Bill kissed his mother on the cheek, pulled Amanda into a one armed hug, pulled on his cloak, and strode from the room.

"Minerva," said Dumbledore, turning to Professor McGonagall, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also – if she will consent to come – Madame Maxime."

Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word. Shortly after her departure, there was a polite knock on the door, and a few Dumrstrang students stepped in. They looked around at the people assembled, and for a moment, almost seemed to be embarrassed. But then they raised their heads, as proud as ever. One of them stepped towards Amanda.

"Professor McGonagall," he started.

"Of course," she said, not letting him go on and striding over to him with only a slight limp. "Come along then."

One of the boys asked, "Vot has happened?"

And in a very clear voice, one that left no room for doubt or question, she said, "Lord Voldemort has returned, and he has killed Cedric Diggory." The boy's faces grew grave at the news, but they didn't argue with her. They simply followed her out to where the rest of their class was waiting, they had no Headmaster now, Karkaroff had fled.

**So, what is everybody thinking?**


	24. Good bye again

Over the next month, only a few things stood out in Amanda's memory. Madame Maxime had gone to Dumbledore's office, and Severus was still avoiding her. She'd also taken over watching the Durmstrang students, as their headmaster had disappeared.

She had seen Severus leave the castle that night, not long after she had met up with the other Durmstrang students. He had looked at her, and there was something in his eyes, something about the way he looked that frightened her. Amanda had wanted to run over and stop him from doing whatever he was going to do, but then he was gone. He had seen her step towards him and had shaken his head once, and then disappeared. He had reached the edge of the grounds and had Disappirated.

She had seen Amos, he had been walking out of the castle just as she had been about to enter. Amos was weeping silent tears, and Mrs. Diggory seemed to be too far into grief to cry just yet. Amos paused when he saw her, a look of shock breaking through the grief that had consumed him. She put an arm on his shoulder.

"I am so sorry, Amos." Amos just gaped for a moment, before finally finding his tongue.

"Did you know him?" he asked hoarsely.

"I met him this year," she said quietly, "every bit as kind and generous as his father. Except taller, better looking."

A smile small tried to form itself on Amos's lips, and then a sob tore out of him. He launched himself upon her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and crying on her shoulder. Amanda just stood there and tried to hold him the best she could while he cried. His wife looked shocked, and a few silvery tears leaked from her eyes.

Amanda had held him for what seemed like hours, trying not to succumb to her own grief or exhaustion; they would have served no one. His wife had eventually pulled him away, mouthing thank you at her before both vanished. Amanda had just stood there for awhile, staring at the place they had left with her mind blank, until the voices of students brought her back to reality.

And Severus continued to avoid her.

She had been twice as busy as before, now running back and forth between the Beauxbatons carriage and the Durmstrang ship to check on the students and make sure that they were doing alright. The Durmstrangs were surprisingly self sufficient, but they would find random little reasons for Amanda to be there. They needed their Headmaster to be there, to impose some sort of stability and order into the chaos that had swept the school, but Karkaroff had fled, so they had turned to Amanda.

The real Moody had joined the staff table, he had called her 'a beanstalk with a burnt head' proving to Amanda that it was him. And then it was time for the end of year feast. Amanda did not attend, she couldn't. Here, Dumbledore would be talking about ties of friendship, ties of love, ties of family, ties that she had tried to cast off years ago. She had left her family, she had let her friends forget about her, and the only love she had found was that of friendship.

He told the hall about Cedric Diggory's death, and of Lord Voldemorts return. Panicked whispers swept the hall, and she didn't have to be in the room to know that her students, the Durmstrangs included, had remained silent. They knew, they believed. Perhaps because Voldemort's reign had been mostly in Britain and they didn't fear him as much they were able to accept this fact more readily then the others.

She sighed as the feast ended; she had been standing in the doorway, behind the head table, where no one could see her. Almost no one, anyways. Professor McGonagall approached.

"You will keep in touch, this time?" she asked. Amanda smiled slightly.

"Of course, you know where to find me now," she said, smiling. "I have to keep in touch or you might come after me with some medieval weapon."

Professor McGonagall smiled slightly, before her lips turned into a frown of concern.

"You look exhausted; perhaps you should have let someone else look after the Durmstrang students," Professor McGonagall made a motion in the direction of Fleur and the other emotional students. "It seems like they have kept you busy enough with their-"

"Don't," Amanda said coldly. Minerva took a step back in surprise. "Don't you dare put my students down the way you always did me"

"What are you talking about?" Minerva exclaimed, hissing quietly so no one else would be able to hear. "I have only ever supported you!"

"You have never praised me once in your life," Amanda exclaimed.

"I praised you all the time!"

"Can you _actually_ think of a _single_ time?"

Minerva looked angry for a few moments, before spluttering out, "I don't have to think of one, because I did it all the time"

"You can't think of one because you never did! You only ever criticized my work, while praising everyone around me even when they failed!" Minerva took another step back.

"That's not true," she said, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Do you even remember what you said to me when I graduated?" Amanda hissed, seething. "You asked me if I would be alright with eating dinner on my own because you wanted to work out a few things!"

Her mother was scrambling now, trying to find the reasoning for her own behavior. It was obvious she hadn't realized what she'd been doing.

"You were always very heavily praised by other teachers, I didn't think it necessary to reiterate."

"Don't _lie_ to _me_;" Amanda was shouting now, angry beyond caring if anyone heard. "They only praised me because _you_ wouldn't! I tried to be the best because of you! I stayed up almost every night studying and practicing to be as good as I was so that you would notice! I had _Seventh years_ coming to _me_ for help by the time I was in my third year! And still you never said a single thing! Everyone noticed! Gryffindors I had antagonized picked on me constantly, calling me unwanted and trying to say that you only kept me so that you wouldn't have to deal with a social worker. I was constantly getting into fights because I couldn't get them to shut up about it!"

Professor McGonagall had perhaps never looked so shocked in her life. She hadn't even noticed that she had been the reason behind her daughter's distress.

"I didn't think you needed it," she said eventually.

"Well you thought wrong! I just wanted to hear you say it _once_! Just once so that I would be able to tell _myself_ that they were wrong."

"I have always been proud of you," Minerva said softly.

"Well, you have a funny way of showing it," snarled Amanda. Professor McGonagall's face twisted in sudden anger.

"What about you? You just ran off without saying a word to any one!"

"I'm surprised you noticed," Amanda sneered, before trying to calm herself. "Maybe I did over react a bit, but I wasn't going to stick around and be reminded of what I couldn't have."

"And what about last year, when your letters stopped and you let us think you had died, while you sat, enjoying your Christmas? Didn't you think that would affect us?"

"That wasn't my fault!" She screamed, tears in the corners of her eyes. "I was unconscious and dieing in a hospital! That's how I spent my Christmas! It was over three _months_ before I could even stay conscious for more then a few minutes. Sending a letter wasn't exactly on the top of my list of priorities!"

"Why didn't you tell them to contact me?" asked Minerva, sounding both hurt and confused. She took a step towards Amanda and she looked away, unable to face the hurt in those eyes.

"I didn't want to bother you," she muttered.

"Don't lie to _me_, Amanda." Amanda flinched.

"I didn't think you would stay," she finally said. "I didn't want you to stay for awhile and then go back to your students, it was much better to pretend that you would have stuck around if I had given you the chance."

Her mother looked stunned, she was speechless. Amanda took a step back, turned, and walked away; hiding her tears with the hair fell in front of her face.

On her way out, Amanda encountered Dumbledore; he was probably on his way to find his deputy headmistress. He stopped when he saw Amanda, and she stopped as well. His clear blue eyes, much like her own, appraised her, looking deep into her soul, if that was possible. He wouldn't ask, he knew she wouldn't answer; instead, Dumbledore pulled her to him and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. He laid a soft kiss on her forehead and whispered, "Good bye, Amy," before he too, was gone, off to find Professor McGonagall, perhaps the only person who could feel worse right now then she did.

Amanda didn't care, he had to look after his staff, and Minerva was most likely his oldest living friend. Besides, Amanda felt guilty for leaving her in such turmoil, but she had asked for the truth, and Amanda had given it to her.

Outside the horses were already harnessed to the carriage, and all her students were aboard, only Madame Maxime, who was having a word with Hagrid, and herself were left outside. The Durmstrang students were gathered near the lake, a catwalk stretching from the shore to their ship. Amanda approached them.

"Everyone's here?" she asked, reaching the group. "You know how to steer the ship, right?"

"Of course," said Krum, "Karkaroff didn't do much vork, he sat in his cabin." Amanda smiled grimly.

"Alright, I was just checking in." She rolled her eyes. "You lot have made me soft, I think." Krum laughed.

"I remember your classes, you are most un-soft."

"I will take that as a compliment, and return to my own students. Have a safe journey," she called.

"And you, as well," called Krum, already moving towards the ship.

Madame Maxime was waiting for her now, having finished talking to Hagrid a few minutes ago. Amanda climbed into the carriage silently. Inside the carriage no longer resembled a miniature castle; instead it was just a huge, warm carriage with four windows and soft benches stretching from end to end. The furthermost left seats had been left empty, one for Amanda and one for Madame Maxime, Amanda took the one already facing away from the school and pulled her cloak around her, pulling the hood over her head and face. She leaned into the window and closed her eyes.

Amanda thought back to when she'd left the first time. She'd felt so worthless and had been so angry. Before she'd Appirated she hadn't thought clearly about where she'd wanted to go, she was lucky not to have been splinched. She'd ended up at the Weasley's house, knowing they would still be at the castle for awhile.

She'd collapsed, sobbing, just outside their gate, unable to think properly anymore. She'd sat there for hours and still no one came home, she was glad. She didn't want to talk to them, didn't want Bill to ask her why she'd run off, didn't want Charlie to comfort her and try to tell her that she was wrong, and she definitely didn't want to listen to Mrs. Weasley to tell them all how proud she was; it wouldn't be the same. But most of all she'd been afraid to have to go back and face her mother.

Eventually she had picked herself up and gone to Gringotts, she'd pulled out her savings and had acquired a room at the Leaky Cauldron under a different name, she hadn't wanted anyone to be able to find her. It had been cowardly to run away and she knew it, but she couldn't bring herself to go back.

A few days later in Diagon Alley she'd met Aldrich Cyrille, the previous Headmaster of Beauxbatons, he'd told her that he was looking for someone to teach Defense against the Dark Arts and she'd volunteered. She'd told him that she'd never had any experience with teaching but that she'd had top grades; she'd only asked that he not speak to anyone at Hogwarts about her. He conceded, looking into the Ministry files to find out that she'd been telling the truth.

Now, sitting in the carriage and traveling away from Hogwarts, Amanda felt just as lost and alone as she had then. With her head leaning against the window and her hood pulled up no one saw the single tear run down Amanda's cheek. She was not going home now, she was leaving it.

**Quick thought, I don't know if Amanda will ever ride Carlisle or not. I haven't finished writing this story and I hadn't written it in, but I might.**


	25. I'm Back!

Severus sat behind his desk, bored and brooding. He couldn't keep from thinking about Amy. He had had to watch her leave, _again_. She had been out of his life for years and in just a couple of months she'd made it seem almost as if she'd never left. But now she was gone, _again_. A knock on the door tore him from his thoughts.

"Enter!" he barked, more from habit then anything else, there were no students around for him to yell at anymore and most of the staff would enter anyways if they knew he was in there. Dumbledore stepped in, followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Good afternoon, Severus," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

Severus merely grunted in return, anytime Dumbledore and Minerva both came down they were probably going to try to get him to do something he wouldn't like.

"It has come to our attention that Professor Flitwick will no longer be among us in the coming year, and we are need of both a Charms and a Defense against the Dark Arts Professor."

Severus scowled, if Dumbledore said they were looking for a Defense against the Dark Arts Professor then that meant he would be teaching Potions, again.

"I don't see what this has to do with me," he said evenly.

"I have a Charms Professor in mind, and I believe that you would be a very valuable asset in the process of convincing them to agree." Snape narrowed his eyes, who was this person? And why did Dumbledore want _him_ to come along? He sighed once again, there was no arguing with Dumbledore, and besides, now he was curious.

"Very well," he said, standing up. Dumbledore smiled, and, taking a small book from his pocket, motioned for Severus and McGonagall to take a hold. As soon as they touched the book the room began to spin and vanished, and then a new room came into view, spinning slower and slower until they stopped suddenly.

It was beautiful; the room was adorned in silver and gold swirls; accenting glass ornaments were scattered around the office; Glass sculptures were placed around the room with gold name plates under each one, each a previous Headmaster or Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy. There was only one door. Across from it one whole wall was devoted to a glass window, and in front of that, behind a rather large decorative desk, sat Madame Maxime.

"You are most welcome," she said grandly, "I 'ad not expected to 'ear from you so soon, Dumbly-dorr. Please, sit. 'ow may I 'elp you?"

Dumbledore sat himself in a delicate looking chair, indicating for Minerva and Severus to do the same. He linked his fingers together and looked at her over his half-moon spectacles at the rather large woman.

"Thank you," he said politely. "I'm afraid I am here to steal one of your teachers from you."

Severus nearly gasped, they were here for Amy.

"You 'ave come to take my Professor McGonagall, 'ave you not?"

"If I may, I'm in a bit of a pickle and she is the most qualified person I can find, and having experience at Hogwarts certainly doesn't hurt."

Madame Maxime sighed and looked away and out the window, looking thoughtful. She raised her wand and flicked it towards a large cabinet, summoning a small blue folder to her desk. She held it in her hands for a long moment before looking up at them.

"I was going to retire, and appoint Amanda 'eadmistress in zee coming year, you will 'ave to convince 'er to come if you want 'er." Dumbledore nodded, he was prepared for that. "'Owever, I believe that 'ogwarts is better for 'er, it iz obvious that she is 'appier zere. But if you wish to add Amanda to your staff, then zere are a few things you should be aware of."

Madame Maxime continued to stare at the folder in front of her, as if unsure whether or not she really wanted to show them, or instead just put it away and throw them out of her office. She eventually sighed and handed the folder to Dumbledore, saying, "Before ze Triwizard tournament, during Christmas break, Amanda vas attacked… by a werewolf."

Professor McGonagall gasped and Dumbledore's brows knitted together, Snape however, just sneered.

"She is not a werewolf," he snapped.

"No," Madame Maxime said heavily. "No one knows 'ow she managed zat, even Amanda vill not say. But it 'as affected 'er in other ways."

Dumbledore had proceeded to open the folder, and had stopped immediately on the first page. Professor McGonagall looked sick. Severus peered of their shoulders and wanted to hurl. It was Amanda, barley recognizable under all the blood that covered her. She lay, slightly curled in some building, her eyes were closed and she didn't seem to be breathing. Her pants were unzipped and her shirt was in tatters, though all the blood prevented them from seeing any of the skin beneath.

"Zat is where zey found her, in an old hospital building," Madame Maxime supplied.

Dumbledore moved on to the next picture, one that was nearly as frightening as the last. Amanda was now lying in a hospital bed, her skin obviously gray and the circles under her eyes plainly visible, even in the black and white picture. A dark bruise covered her cheek. Her wrists were covered in half healed scars and the blanket had been pulled down to reveal the bandages that covered her chest and stomach. Amanda herself looked feverish, and a wizard off to the side could be seen monitoring her breathing. Oddly though, her eyes were half open, and her hand twitched in the moving picture every now and then.

"When the hospital first contacted me, zey had no idea what 'ad attacked her, and Amanda wouldn't be awake to tell us for another few months. But we noticed that she kept 'waking up' on zee full moon. After thees happened twice, zey gave 'er a powerful sleeping potion, and it worked, sort of. Amanda fell asleep, but somezing else woke up. She transformed and went on a rampage, attacking anyone she could. Zee wizards managed to subdue 'er, and when she awoke Amanda could only remember bits and pieces of what 'ad 'appened," Madame Maxime paused, "I believe it is 'er deepest shame.

"After that they stopped giving 'er zee sleeping potion, she never transformed again, but every full moon she continues to be unable to sleep."

Snape thought back to that night she had rescued him from the werewolves, she had seemed so tired, so weak, and yet, with a simple potion, she could have been the one trying to kill him, instead of protecting him.

"Zee attack 'as affected her in other ways, it has been a year, and yet her 'ealth has still not recovered. Amanda becomes ill more often, her scar sometimes bleeds if she does something strenuous. She almost lost herself, she was silent for weeks and her actions didn't make a lot of sense. I thought she vould never return. But she did. One morning she just seemed to put herself back together and zat was zat."

Dumbledore's eyes flashed dangerously when he heard that Amanda had almost lost her sanity. Professor McGonagall was still staring, transfixed, at the photograph. Her voice was hoarse.

"Why did you not contact me?"

"Ven Amanda was hired it was under the condition that no one from Hogwarts would be contacted about 'er, zee term vas accepted because we were, at the time, rather desperate. Since then she has proven herself to be one of ze best Professors this school has ever seen, even with her rather unorthodox style, and so no attempts to pry into her past were made."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, finally tearing his eyes from the folder below him and looking up.

"Unorthodox?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Madame Maxime looked somewhere between irritated, highly amused, and slightly awed by her Professor.

"Zere have been several incidents involving various students running from her class in tears, and once as a peacock."

Dumbledore's lips twitched slightly, and he glanced at Severus for just a second.

"I think that is something that we can handle." Madame Maxime leaned forward, looking at them all grimly.

"I trust zat you vill all exercise a certain amount of discretion with this information. I doubt very much zat Amanda would have chosen to share thees much with you all."

Dumbledore nodded and passed the folder back to Madame Maxime, who sent it back into the cabinet.

"May we speak with Amanda?"

Madame Maxime stood up, towering over them and blocking much of the sunlight that had been filtering through the window. She moved to a small table where a sort of mirror object was resting. It was circular and had a large silver and blue decorative bird painted in the middle. A compass was painted around it, in glowing white paint.

Madame Maxime raised her wand and tapped the bird, whispering, "Amanda McGonagall." The bird burst from the mirror in a shattering of glass, it flew into the air and hovered for a moment, sparkling brilliantly in the sunlight. Then it gave a shrill screech and flew from the room like a shot, speeding down the hall and out of sight.

But they could still see it; in the mirror where it had previously rested they could see the birds surrounding. It flitted through hallway after hallway before flying out an open window and soaring upwards.

"Where is it going?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Madame Maxime turned from the glass long enough to answer.

"It is going to find Amanda," she answered, "if she is still on zee grounds then it will find 'er."

The small group of Professors watched the bird soar higher and higher and soar over the rooftops, rising and circling a tower. They heard her long before they saw her, music filtered through the mirror, seeming to radiate from deep within it. It was soft and lilting; seeming to dance along the very wind it was carried on. A moment later the bird rose above the rooftop and she came into view. Amanda was sitting on the purple rooftop, her dark hair curling down her back and her pale fingers whizzing carefully along the dark fingerboard of a violin, a soft smile gracing her features.

She stopped and looked up, having noticed the bird circling closer. It swooped above her head and let out a shrill whistle. It swung past her and in the split second in which Amanda could no longer be seen there was the sharp sound of shattering glass and the bird sped towards the ceiling. The last thing they saw was the purple tiled rooftop before there was another shattering sound and the view vanished, only to be replaced a moment later by a new painted bird.

Madame Maxime leaned away from the mirror, chuckling softly.

"She always doz zat," she explained.

They leaned back to wait quietly, each wondering how Amanda would react. They didn't have to wonder long. There was a soft knock on the door. Amanda entered, speaking rapidly in French, she sounded a little irritated. Madame Maxime cleared her throat and Amanda looked up, stopping immediately, she furrowed her brow.

"Why do I feel like I just stepped into an intervention?" she asked. "Should I be running?"

Dumbledore stood and offered her his chair, which she took, looking at him wearily.

"Depends on how you feel about Charms," he said, taking the seat to her left.

Madame Maxime stood up, saying "I vill leave zis to you," and left, exiting into the white hallway and making the room feel much larger than before. Amanda watched her go before turning to face the three Hogwarts professors. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Firstly, congratulations are in order, I believe, I heard you were offered the position of Headmistress."

Amanda looked mildly skeptical, and more than a little confused.

"Thank you, I am looking forward to it."

_Perhaps not, _thought Snape. But Amanda continued.

"I believe you said something about charms?"

"Yes, what do you think of them?"

"They are very useful?" she said, as if trying to figure out what he was getting at.

"How would you feel about teaching them?" Dumbledore asked, sounding for all the world as if this were exactly what she should have been thinking.

Amanda blinked, and stared, and then blinked again. There wasn't another sound in the room aside from a small clock in one corner that ticked away the seconds while Amanda just stared at them all.

"Perhaps I shouldn't assume," she said, as if hoping what she was going to say would be wrong, "but it sounds to me as if you want me to decline the position of Headmistress and go teach Charms at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore smiled brightly and said, "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

She nodded and stood, walking over to a statue of a previous Headmaster. Amanda put her hand on his forehead and whispered his name, "Aldrich Cyrille." There was a grinding noise and the statue started to glow. It ended as soon as it came and Amanda walked over to the door, opening it to reveal a small study carpeted in rich greens and browns. She motioned for Dumbledore to follow her and stepped inside.

Once the two were gone Severus turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Why, exactly, are the two of us here?"

"Dumbledore said he would be talking to her and our presence would help drive home some of his points," she said, clearly doubting that their presence would do anything to make her daughter accept the position.

Inside the green room Amanda and Dumbledore arranged themselves comfortably in large green armchairs. The walls were a deep brown and the carpet was a green so dark it was almost black, the armchairs were Hagrid, or rather, Madame Maxime sized. Amanda abruptly spoke up.

"So," she said suddenly, "what's the real reason you want me to come and teach Charms?"

"What makes you think there is another reason?"

Amanda narrowed her eyes, fond as she was of Dumbledore she didn't enjoy playing his games all the time. He knew something, and she wanted to know what it was. She just stared at him, deciding that he would either tell her or give up and leave. She was wrong, of course, Dumbledore would not have left, but he did decide to tell her a few things.

"You are an animagus, a white wolf, if I am not mistaken."

"Well," she said dryly, "there's one cat out of the bag."

"And, I believe you have the ability to enter my mind and reveal my every emotion, my every memory."

Amanda straightened, looking at him with her mouth slightly agape. How had he known that? No one knew that except her and the other unicorns of the Forbidden Forest. Obviously she was wrong, again. Amanda felt her mouth go dry.

"How… how do you know about that?"

Dumbledore looked at her over his half moon spectacles, pleased that he had been right.

"It was more of a guess," he said, "I had read about the unicorn's ability to communicate telepathically, and when I saw how the young unicorn reacted to you, I guessed that he could, at least, hear your thoughts. I noticed that you returned to the forest many times throughout the school year, although I'm sure I didn't know about all of them – you weren't as predictable as others – and I followed you. I saw you with the unicorn, apparently speaking without words. I assumed that meant you had gained their ability."

Amanda sighed, _there goes the other cat,_ she thought.

"What, may I ask, are you planning with this information?"

"I want to get you inside the Death Eaters circle, and I want you to take a memory from Lord Voldemort."

Amanda stared up at him, was he serious? He wanted her to wander up to Voldemort and take one of his memories? Did he have any idea how long it would take her to break into his mind the first time, and then to sift through all his memories until she found the right one? It would take weeks, months maybe. And there would be nothing to keep the memories of Voldemorts victims from becoming her own memories, memories that she would have to relive for years afterwards.

She looked deep into his crystal blue eyes, mirror images of her own. He knew what he was asking, that was why he had provided her with a reasonable excuse to back out, she could tell the others that she didn't want the position, that she wanted to stay and become Headmistress. But then, why bring them? She thought about Severus and her mother. How would they feel if she declined coming to work with them, Severus would lose out on someone to talk to, and her mother would probably assume it was because Amanda was trying to avoid her, which was what Amanda was good at, after all. She would not, in good conscious, be able to back out. That's why they were there, Dumbledore was crafty.

"Alright," she said quietly, "tell me your plan."

Professor McGonagall and Severus were sitting quietly while they waited. Minerva took the opportunity to look around. The walls on either side of the door had large plants blooming with radiant and sparkling fruits of various sizes and colors. On a small table, not far from the mirror with the bird painted into it lay a large book.

Upon closer examination Minerva realized that it was a photo album, it lay open to a picture that seemed to have been taken near Christmas time, there were wreaths of holly and small glass ornament hanging from every available space. The picture had been taken in this very office. There were merry people dancing around and drinking colorful drinks with frosted rims or candy canes sticking out of them.

She recognized Amanda, sitting in the back corner with a quill and parchment before her, writing quietly. Periodically she would glance up and glare at someone, he looked just like the statue Amanda had spoken to and Minerva assumed it to be the previous Headmaster. Professor McGonagall checked the date at the bottom, it had been the first Christmas after Amanda had left.

She turned the page, in this picture Amanda wasn't sitting in the background, instead she was just walking by, when a nearby professor grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. He pointed above them, where mistletoe was hanging and, to Amanda's horror, tried to kiss her. There was another picture next to it, the professor was lying on the ground, rubbing his jaw, whilst everyone else laughed and Amanda sulked from the corner.

Minerva chuckled slightly and Severus looked up.

"What is that?" She brought it over to him and he snorted, looking mildly as if he approved. Professor McGonagall turned the page.

The next scene started with a snitch, zipping around the room and the professors all moving around to try to catch it, some of them a bit tipsy and falling over. The picture after it showed a large dog pile, with a single white hand reaching out and clenched tightly around the small fluttering ball. Someone had added a golden arrow to the picture, with curly gold writing that identified the hand as Amanda's.

On the next page everyone was running around and several seemed to be screaming in delight and fear. Small black shapes zipped around, biting people viciously; Minerva recognized them as Licorice Snaps. Amada had managed to scale a small bookshelf and sat at the top, wide eyed but safe from harm.

The next page was much more peaceful. Amanda was sitting in a seat with the reset of the professors leaning in over her shoulder. There was a baby in her arms that couldn't be more then a few months old. Amanda had a soft smile on her face as she cradled the child to her chest. Minerva had a moment where she wondered if the child could somehow be hers but Severus, in a moment of great insight, pointed to the caption. It read: Amanda McGonagall and her namesake/god-child, Amanda Cyrille.

The door opened before they had time to look at any more. Dumbledore stepped out, followed by a rather grim looking Amanda. She looked at them, staring but not really seeing what they were looking at at first.

"What are you doing?" she asked softly.

"Blackmail," said Snape, before he could stop himself. Amanda smirked.

"If you intend to blackmail me with that, Professor Snape," she said lightly, "I think you will find that I can do far more damage." At the end of her words the grating sound was renewed, and a moment later the door opened, this time leading back from the hallway, and Madam Maxime walked in.

"'ave you decided?" she asked. Amanda grinned sheepishly at her.

"It seems that you will have to remain Headmistress for awhile longer, and train your replacement again." Madame Maxime scowled for a moment, before smiling once again.

"I 'ate training replacements, you know zat." Her expression softened. "Zere will always be a place for you 'ere, Amanda, should you ever 'ave zee need to return." Amanda smiled.

"Let us up that I will not need to," she said. What she was thinking, however, was, _Let us hope that I live long enough to get the chance._

**I would like to take the time to say that Amy is growing up, and so this story is going to get a bit more mature. To put it bluntly there's going to be sex. Nothing too graphic, mind you. If you guys want I can put little warnings in places before it's going to happen, but I just thought I should warn you all that it's coming. Soon, I think. Also thank you for the reviews, they're much appreciated. And sorry if my characters change too much, it's been ages since I started writing this and my minds is getting a bit fuzzy about things.**


	26. More explanations

Severus panted heavily, preparing himself for the long walk back up to the castle. His ribs were almost definitely broken and aftershocks of pain washed over him in waves, leaving him trembling after each one. The night air, even in mid-summer, seemed chilly and caused him to shiver painfully.

Voldemort had summoned him. He and the other Death Eaters had stood in a circle around their master to hear what he would say. Fenrir Greyback had been there as well, even though he wasn't technically a Death Eater, he would never be one, his blood was no longer pure and they would not accept him. But Fenrir was stupid, and he wouldn't realize his mistake until it was too late.

Severus had been forced from his thoughts then; he'd cursed himself to dwell on the mutt. His lord had addressed him, asking about Amanda.

"This girl, Amanda McGonagall," he said quietly, "She is a pureblood?"

"Yes, my lord." He'd answered. Fenrir Greyback was paying rapt attention now, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"What chance is there of recruiting her to our cause?"

"Very little, my lord," he'd said, hating himself for even talking about her in front of the Dark Lord, possibly turning her into a target. "She is very close to Dumbledore, and she would never betray her mother."

Some within the circle had hissed when he'd mentioned Dumbledore, even more snickered when he'd mentioned her loyalty to her mother.

"A pity," the Dark Lord said, "we could have used someone that close to the old fool." Lord Voldemort's eyes flickered around, resting on Fenrir. "You have something to say, Greyback." It wasn't a question, the Dark Lord knew.

"My lord," Fenrir had gasped, "I know this girl, I have seen her. Almost two years ago, I thought that I had killed her."

Amanda had been attacked by a werewolf, and she had been kidnapped by someone who obviously had wanted her body. Fenrir fit both descriptions easily. Severus felt a sudden rush of rage welling in him, like a beast waiting to get out, to kill Greyback.

"And what use is this information to me?"

"My lord, this girl, she must be a werewolf now, it is the only way she could have survived."

A red light shone in the Dark Lords eyes. It wasn't a twinkle, not the way Dumbledore's always shone. The word twinkle could be applied to these eyes the same way you could call a porcupine soft. The Dark Lord looked pleased, in a way that only meant someone else was going to be sorry.

"You turned a pureblood into a werewolf, Greyback?"

"My lord, it was a- an accident, my lord."

He was groveling now, realizing that things were mot going to go well for him. And they had not; things had not gone well for any of them. The Dark Lord had punished them, all of them, he wanted them to know that pure blood should never be wasted; they would need it in his new empire.

After the Dark Lord had dismissed them Severus had followed Fenrir, ignoring the pain in his ribs. It had been easy to knock him unconscious and then use Legilimency to break into the werewolf's mind. He had searched Fenrir's mind frantically; looking for the memories he'd wanted, then let himself sink into them.

It was a small city, made up of mostly muggles. And then he'd seen her. She was dressed in muggle jeans and a dark blue shirt. Her dark hair was put into a high pony tail that flared out and bounced in gravity defying ways. Her wand could be seen sticking out of her back pocket, within easy reach of her hands. She was still healthy, Severus noted, her skin was a healthy pink, there were no bags under her eyes, and she was not the skeleton she had been when he had seen her during the tournament.

Fenrir had growled, he wanted her, she smelled so delicious. But she had a wand; she would not be easy prey. He found a wizard, one who knew him well and was afraid. Together they had followed her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Severus followed them as they followed her all day, watching her stop in various bookshops, looking for something but not finding it in any of them. It was obvious she was growing frustrated, and then, at the end of the day, she tried one more store.

She was victorious, walking out with a large, leather bound book. Amanda had promptly disappeared down a nearby alley, a perfect place to Apparate. They followed her in, and the wizard raised his wand. Severus wanted to shout, warn her of what was coming, but he was just an observer in a memory he hadn't had.

Even without his warning Amanda seemed to realize that something was wrong, she whipped around, her hand clutching around her wand. She hadn't stood a chance.

"Stupefy!" The wizard had shouted.

Amanda had fallen, a shocked expression on her face. Fenrir had promptly scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder and telling the wizard to get lost, – he'd only been too happy to comply – and walking away, Amanda's body hanging limply over his shoulder.

Severus skipped ahead to later that day, it was almost night. Fenrir was watching her, staring at her as if she were a piece of meat. Amanda was tied to a radiator by the wrists, her arms held above her head by ropes so tight bruises had already formed around them. Fenrir moved forward until he was right above her and reached down, stroking her cheek. His hand moved lower, caressing her neck and sliding over her shoulders. Amanda's eyelids fluttered. Fenrir moved closer, he was straddling her now, and his hands moved over her stomach and waist. His long nails left little scratches in her skin when he touched her. Her eyes flew open and she gasped slightly. Fenrir grinned.

"Hello dear," he said, his voice husky. Amanda tried to lower her arms, quickly realizing the situation she was in. "No, no," he taunted, "you're my new pet, and you can't leave unless _I_ say so."

"What do you want?"

His fist slammed down across her face and she gasped slightly. Fenrir lowered himself so that he was right above her face, his body pressing hers into the ground and his smell filing her nostrils.

"You do as I say now, and I haven't told you to speak yet."

She looked panicked and her eyes were darting around the room. Fenrir chuckled quietly.

"No one will hear you if you scream," he said, his foul breath wafting over her neck. "And no one will care to come looking for trash like you."

Severus saw the hopelessness flash through her eyes before anger replaced it.

"So that makes you the garbage man?"

Fenrir growled and grabbed her hair, ripping her hair forcefully upwards. She gave a small cry and instant tears sprang to her eyes. Her face was turned, so Fenrir couldn't see the expression on Amanda's face, but Severus could see how terrified she was. The werewolf let his hands wander over her body again and Amanda squirmed under his touch. He growled and reached up, pulling her hair back and under. She whimpered softly, barely audible.

"Don't move," he growled.

Amanda screwed up her eyes and tensed. Fenrir groped her, reaching under her shirt and planting kisses on her face and neck. She whimpered again and a tear leaked from under her eyelashes. "So easy…" he murmured, running his hands over her body. One had reached under her and squeezed her thigh while the other was busy groping her breasts.

"You know," he said, smiling cruelly, "this is probably going to hurt a lot."

His hands moved down to her pants, unzipping them and sliding them down over her hips. Another whimper escaped Amanda and Fenrir smirked again. "So easy…" he repeated.

Fenrir shifted slightly, moving so he could pull her pants down even further. Amanda took advantage of his momentary imbalance; with his weight removed from her legs one of them shot up, catching him in the groin. He cried out and doubled over, momentarily forgetting the girl under him. She pulled her leg in close to her body and lashed out again, shoving him off her so hard that his head crashed into a wooden crate against the wall. The world seemed to shift and Severus knew the hit had affected the wolf man.

Still watching her, Severus saw Amanda slip into wolf form and escape her bonds, before slipping back out while Fenrir was still unaware of his surroundings. Amanda slid past him, grabbing her wand and racing out the door, only to find herself in a hallway with more then one door leading out of it.

She saw a staircase and made for it. Fenrir was right behind her, stumbling slightly because of his head. He caught up to her and lunged, just barely managing to catch her leg before she disappeared down the stairs.

Amanda tumbled down the stairs, landing at the bottom in a twisted heap, blood pooling around her head. She didn't move, and a moment later Fenrir too passed out.

The memories shifted and Severus had to search again to find the next set. They were buried deep in Fenrir's unconscious and he doubted even Fenrir had access to these memories. The werewolf had transformed.

Fenrir lifted his nose, keeping his body low to the ground, and sniffed the air, turning immediately to face the unconscious woman at the bottom of the stairs. He climbed down slowly, sniffing around constantly. The wolf man pressed his snout into the blood that had pool slightly around Amanda and inhaled deeply, before reaching out a paw. It hovered above her shoulder, claws out.

Amanda groaned slightly, making the paw shoot back and the werewolf growl. Her eyes snapped open and she turned towards it, looking surprised. Fenrir lunged, teeth snapping, but this time, Amanda was ready for him, she transformed in an instant and twisted to be above him on the stairs, avoiding his teeth and latching onto his shoulder from behind. The wolf howled in pain and snapped around, barley missing her as she soared over him.

It was obvious Amanda was trying not to get bit. The great white wolf stood tall, its muzzle twisted into a snarl and blood dripping down her head as she faced the werewolf. He lunged again, and she avoided him, reaching up to claw his face and leaving four gashes on his neck. They met again in a snarling and snapping of teeth, neither gaining much leverage. Fenrir slashed at her sides, leaving shallow bloody gashes and Amanda managed to hook her claws into his already torn shoulder and bring them down, ripping the wound further.

He howled loudly in pain and stumbled, making Amanda lose her balance. That was all the time the werewolf needed to get a clear shot. His claws dug in, slightly below her left shoulder and ripped down to the bone, sliding down across the rib cage, pulling several of them out of their places, and across her stomach, stopping just above her right hind leg.

Her desperate howl of pain turned into a frightful scream as Amanda was forced to transform back into a woman. Blood gushed from her wound as Amanda tried to curl up and steam the flow of blood, crying out at the movement in her ribs. Fenrir had no chance to gloat, however, as a large crash signaled that someone had heard and come to investigate. The werewolf fled the scene. The last image Severus saw of Amanda was of her lying in a pool of her own blood, with it trickling down from her lips and her hands covered in it from trying to steam the flow from her stomach and chest, before Fenrir was gone and the memory ended.

Pulling from Fenrir's mind, Severus found himself panting in anger. He lashed out, kicking Fenrir again and again, taking out his anger. How dare the werewolf do that to his Amanda? He didn't stop kicking until he'd collapsed, coughing and his ribs burning. He coughed up a small ball of blood and grimaced, his ribs were definitely broken. He panted heavily, preparing to move. The world turned, and with a sharp **'crack'** he was gone.

Severus saw the gates and staggered forwards, stumbled, and fell, the world turning black around him.

Amanda stared around at her new room, it was smaller then her one at Beauxbatons, but, somehow, it seemed more fitting. Dumbledore had given her one of the small towers that lined Hogwarts; it had three rooms and a bathroom. The front room was the largest, it had one straight wall, with a door leading out and into a spiral staircase, another leading into her bedroom, and a third leading to a bathroom. The rest of the walls were actually just part of a large half circle. She had made liberal use of rugs to cover the floor; cold stone under bare feet was just plain annoying. The rugs were all black; it had been easiest to keep them matching that way. A large stained glass window let in light and cast colorful shadows about the room. She had covered nearly every available space of wall with bookshelves. A small fireplace was inset in one wall and she had place two comfy armchairs there, they were rather large, she had gotten used to Madame Maxime sized furniture. A small alcove led into another, triangular, room.

The smallish triangular room made a small kitchen; it had a small stove and cabinet, with tea and sugar already supplied. Another stain glass window brightened this room; it depicted a scene of two small wolf cubs playing along with a young unicorn, still the golden color of youth.

Her bedroom looked much the same as the front room, with a large circular wall surrounding it. A huge painting filled a large portion of the wall, it had been painted by one of her previous students and would never move, as it was completely muggle, but she liked it. It depicted an unknown castle on a mountain top, but if one looked at it the right way, you could almost see people inlaid into the building itself. It was like a giant I-Spy. Behind the painting was a hidden door, it lead to another circular staircase and beyond that was the roof of the tower, she would have a spectacular view of the Forbidden Forest and the lake from up there.

She was well pleased, Dumbledore had certainly picked a grand place for her to live in, at least while she was still there. Amanda shook her head, there was no point worrying about it now, she would just have to enjoy what time she had left of the summer before it would be time to put their plan into action.

Amanda slid down the stairs, riding the rail all the way to the bottom. She stepped out into a hallway and watched the wall close behind her, a small statue of a dragon unfurled itself and looked at her, waiting for her to pick a new password.

"A duck," she said, in all seriousness. The small dragon blinked once at her before curling back up and closing its eyes. Amanda skipped off down the halls, not really sure what to do.

She'd been here for a grand total of six days. She'd visited Gryis and Firenze in the forest, she'd spent several hours each day with Carlisle, and she'd even made a few lesson plans for charms, even though in all likelihood she wouldn't be around to teach them. She'd even taken time to explore the Ravenclaw dormitories, since she was going to be Head of Ravenclaw after she replaced Flitwick. But now she was bored.

At Beauxbatons she'd always left for the summer, going to visit various small villages of muggles and selling them healing potions at a very low price, it might not be exactly within the law but it wasn't exactly breaking it either. But she couldn't leave here, she had to stick around and be ready.

Peeves floated past.

"Looky, its Amy wamy unless my eyeses are playin tricks on mes again."

"Hello, Peeves," she said, ignoring the weird way he talked, "It's good to see you again."

"The Bloody Baron sir will be most pleased to sees you again."

"Then I shall make a point to speak with him, the next time I see him."

Their conversation was cut short by angry yelling.

"Peeves!" the voice shouted, "I'll get you for this!" Peeves zoomed off, cackling all the way and Amanda sighed, again, she was bored.

**Amanda,** it was the voice of Carlisle, entering her mind even though he could be miles away. He sounded grave. **I think you should come out here; there is someone at the gates, he needs help.**

_I'm on my way, _she sent back, now sprinting towards the main entrance. She wondered who could be out there.

Outside the air was cool and crisp and the stars twinkled merrily in the skies above her. But Amanda missed all of this, intent as she was on getting to the gates and helping the figure that was beyond them. She wouldn't have even seen the figure on the ground if Carlisle wasn't standing over him.

She bent down to check for a pulse and gasped, _Severus. _He was wearing a Death Eater mask and robes. But Amanda ignored that, Dumbledore surely knew where Severus had been and she trusted his judgment enough not to dwell on it for the moment.

Underneath the robes Severus shivered violently, his breathing was ragged, and when Amanda tried to lift him he recoiled in pain. She ran her wand over his body, checking for broken bones and grimaced, ribs were nasty.

She lifted him into the air with her wand, holding him as steady as possible and carrying him up to the castle. Amanda doubted very much that Severus would want to go to the hospital wing, dressed as he was, and instead took him down to the dungeons, to his room. The room was cold and Amanda shivered as she laid him as gently as possible onto the bed, but she ignored it for the moment, removing has mask and then searching his cupboard for the potions he would need. She found them immediately; it seemed Severus had been prepared to take care of himself.

Amanda started a fire, making sure it would last for awhile before returning to him, he looked a little more relaxed now but was obviously still in pain. She tilted his head up and poured potion after potion down his throat, numbing the pain and speeding his bodies recovery time. She unbuttoned his shirt to get at his chest and tried not to look over his toned abs, it was rather difficult. She spread a cream over the large bruised area around his ribs, applying it liberally.

She had just finished re-buttoning his shirt when his eyes snapped open. His hands flew to her wrists and he latched on with an iron grip. Amanda gasped in surprise and looked at him, he looked angry, was he angry at her? He pulled her down and closer to him.

"Don't leave," he whispered hoarsely. Amanda was confused, what did he mean? She wasn't going anywhere. He repeated himself, "don't leave, promise."

"I'm right here; I'll stay if you want." Severus seemed to relax a little at her words, his eyes closed and he fell into a dreamless sleep, the sleeping potion having finally taken effect. Amanda tried to stand up but Severus's grip hadn't loosened, she couldn't get free. No matter how hard she pulled he wouldn't let go.

Amanda sighed and knelt next to the bed, it was the only place she could go, to get on the bed she would have to climb over him and she didn't want to do that while he was in such a state. She rested her hands on his stomach and laid her head on the bed, somehow managing to fall asleep despite the awkward position.

Severus awoke with a start and looked around. He was in his own room, how had that happened? Then he remembered, Amanda, she must have carried him up. He looked down and saw her kneeling against the bed, worn out and fast asleep. His hands were wrapped tightly around her wrists, preventing movement. Severus cringed and let go, her wrists were red, but there wasn't any sign of bruising. He was glad; he didn't want to be reminded of what had happened to her like that.

He pulled her limp form on the bed, lifting her easily over him. She immediately snuggled into his side for warmth and her eyes opened slightly.

"Sev…"

"Shhh…" he said softly, kissing her forehead. "Go back to sleep."

"Severus, what were you talking about earlier?"

He cringed, he didn't want to think about it, and he definitely didn't want to tell her what he had seen right now.

"Go back to sleep, I will tell you later." She sighed and closed her eyes, burying herself back into his side. She jerked back suddenly.

"Sorry, I forgot about your ribs –" He cut her off, pulling her tight against him.

"I can't feel it," he murmured, rubbing her shoulder.

Amanda leaned up and planted a small kiss on his cheek before resting once again on his chest and quickly falling asleep. Severus's mind was in too much turmoil to follow her. He shouldn't have attacked Fenrir, that had been stupid. But it had felt so right. He had been so angry for what the wolf had done to Amanda, for what he had tried to do. When he'd woken up with her above him his only thought had been to keep her close, where he could protect her.

Severus pulled a blanket over them both, kissing the top of Amanda's head once again before he too fell into a deep slumber, content to hold Amanda against him forever.

Forever ended all too soon. Amanda awoke, feeling happy and safe, but then something in the back of her mind burned. Dumbledore. He was telling her that it was time, she had to leave now. It looked like she wouldn't be able to keep her promise to Severus after all.

She disentangled herself from Severus's arms and stood on shaky legs, she didn't want to do this. She didn't want to enter Voldemorts mind and see the horror he inflicted on others, she didn't want to risk getting caught and killed, and she definitely didn't want to leave Severus. He groaned and reached out, looking for her. A frown graced his features when he realized she wasn't next to him and his eyes opened. Amanda moved back and leaned over him.

"Go back to sleep, I promise I'll explain, but I have to go now."

Severus frowned. He reached up and cupped her chin, bringing her down to meet him, and gave her a soft kiss. Amanda blinked and leaned forward to capture his lips in a stronger kiss, she needed him right now. She released him and he lay back on the bed, quickly falling back asleep. She shuddered, that hadn't been a good idea, it only made her want to stay longer. She grabbed a piece of parchment from a nearby table and quickly scribbled him a note, weighing it down with her necklace. Then she walked out, and she was gone, again.

Severus woke up feeling better then he had in a long time. He remembered what Amanda had said before she left and wondered where she had had to go so suddenly. She had said she would tell him though so he didn't think much of it. He got up and dressed for the day, he had just finished when something glittered on his desk. Her necklace, why had she left it? She had told him last year that she never took it off. He lifted it into his hand, fingering the gem, and snatched up the note, reading it quickly. It read:

Sorry I had to leave; I didn't think that I would be called away tonight. I don't know what Dumbledore will tell you about it, but I _will_ be back to tell you the rest. I trust you'll watch this for me. –love always, Amy

Severus scowled and set the note down, dropping the necklace in his pocket and storming from the room to find Dumbledore. He strode darkly towards the Headmaster's office and barked the password, "Honey Suckle." The ride to the top seemed to take forever and he burst in without knocking, Dumbledore didn't look surprised to see him.

"Where is she?" he demanded, not giving the old Professor time to speak.

"Ah, Severus, always a pleasure. Please, sit."

"Where is she?" he repeated.

"I do not know exactly," Dumbledore said.

"How can you not know where she is?" he seethed, fighting to keep his voice under control.

"I have sent her to fetch something for me, it will take her a fair amount of time and she will be moved to many different places."

"What," he hissed, "is she looking for?"

Dumbledore sighed and stood up.

"I am afraid," he said, "that we cannot help her, Amy is the only one who can get it. And I'm afraid that is also all I can tell you."

Severus turned, seething, and strode from the office, his cloak flapping wildly behind him.

**Here you are, and I apologize for the lack of chapters this weekend, I was out of town. Thank you all so much for your reviews! I got so many I can't even address you all individually. That or I'm just too tired to do it tonight…. It's probably the second one. In any case, thank you all again, and I hope you liked this one… it was weird to write though.**


	27. She comes back a lot, doesn't she?

The rest of the summer passed much the same as it had before, except now it was periodically interrupted by various meetings, for both the order and Lord Voldemort. Severus spent much of his free time alone in his rooms, staring into the necklace he had given Amanda all those years ago as if it could give him answers as to where she was.

Dumbledore announced to the students that Flitwick would be their Charms Professor for only a little while longer, and then he would be replaced by someone he was sure most of them remembered from last year; Professor McGonagall of Beauxbatons. He also introduced Professor Umbridge, or rather, she introduced herself. The short pink covered woman gave a speech that left most of the head table shocked or infuriated, to say the least. Severus wished dearly that Amanda would return soon so that he wouldn't have to sit next to this strange short woman.

And then he saw her. It was midway through September and he had been summoned to a Death Eater meeting. He hadn't been to one in months, but there had been others. He always knew when a meeting was called, but he specifically wasn't called to every one. As he stepped into his place in the circle and looked around Severus received a shock. Sitting at the feet of the Dark Lord was a great white wolf. It stood tall and watched over them all, as if daring them to step closer. Lord Voldemort chuckled, it wasn't a pleasant sound.

"Ah yes, Severus," he said smoothly, "You haven't been introduced to my newest pet yet, have you?"

"No, my lord," he replied, looking down at the wolf. Her large blue eyes met him for only a moment, and he got the distinct impression of large teeth should he move any closer.

"Lucius made her a gift to me, to show his gratitude. It has been suggested that she is a spy, which is where you come in." Severus felt his mouth go dry, what did he mean by that? "You are an accomplished legilimens, I believe. Why don't you take a look into her mind and tell the others what you find."

Severus nodded and stepped forward, his wand raised, the wolf narrowed her eyes and looked only at him. "Legilimens," he muttered.

There was no resistance; he was immediately awash in strange feelings, the warning feelings about the wands that were pointed towards her master, the curiosity about what they were, and above all, the absolute adoration and loyalty to the man sitting behind her. Severus ripped himself out of the wolf's mind and looked around.

"It's just a wolf," he said, more then a little surprised. Was it possible that this wasn't Amanda? The Dark Lord chuckled yet again.

"A demonstration, then! Bring it forward!" From behind them came the sound of a struggle, and someone sobbed and moaned, "No, nooo, I haven't, I swear, nooo!" A man was brought forward; he was struggling furiously in the arms of the people bringing him forward. They pushed him forward and he fell at the wolf's feet, she looked down at him, even as a wolf managing to convey disgust. Lord Voldemort leaned forward.

"You have disgraced me, Ivocheck."

"No, no. Master I have not, please, no." The man groveled, trying to inch away from the large wolf looming over him.

"You have the chance to redeem yourself, Ivocheck. Will you do it?"

_Say no,_ thought Severus, knowing that the Dark Lord would not really give this man a second chance.

"Y-yes, my lord. Thank you my lord."

"You are going to be an example of what happens to people who betray me, and you are going to be a demonstration of my new pet's power." The man backed away, terrified, but the wolf didn't move. Someone threw him a wand.

"Ari," said the Dark Lord, eyes glinting red, the Wolf instantly perked up her ears, listening intently. "Slowly, kill him."

The man, Ivocheck, screamed, but was cut off by the wolf's lung. She knocked him to the ground effortlessly, and bit down on his arm. The crack of splintering bone was audible even over the mans screams. He brandished his wand but couldn't hit her, she moved too fast. Ari, as that was what the Dark Lord had called her, fastened her teeth around his neck Blood flowed around her teeth and a second crack split the night, she had broken his neck, nearly severing his head from his body completely.

She turned and moved back to sit before her master, blood dripping from her muzzle. Voldemort rubbed her ears in pleasure and then turned to someone else.

"Harvey, I believe you were also found in London, around the same place as Ivocheck."

"I didn't know, I swear it –"

"Clean my pet's muzzle, Harvey;" he said pleasantly, "we can't have her teeth rotting."

The man was shaking furiously as he stepped towards Ari. He raised his wand and stretched out a hand to take her muzzle. Still she didn't move, she would not move unless ordered to do so by her master, but this was hardly a reassuring thought. Voldemort was, evidently in a merciful mood, he did not order the death of the cowering man beneath him.

The meeting ended after that, Voldemort had just wanted to show the awesome power of his latest weapon. Severus didn't know what to think, he couldn't believe that that had been Amanda; Madame Maxime had said that her greatest shame had been waking up to find that she had injured several people. But she had had the scar, and they had the same eyes. A sudden rush of hatred swelled inside of him, for Minerva, for not protecting her daughter from Dumbledore, for Dumbledore for sending her into a place like that, and for Voldemort, for even making a place like that where she would be forced to do such things.

Severus stormed up to the castle, entering through a side door and encountering no one. He was glad, he couldn't have dealt with anyone at the moment, he was too furious. He couldn't believe that Dumbledore would have ever done that to Amanda, his little Amy. He took his anger out on everyone over the next few weeks, eagerly awaiting the next Death Eater meeting so he could see how she was doing.

He got his wish a few weeks later, but he regretted it almost immediately. Her fur was matted and she shuddered when she breathed. Blood trickled from her mouth. Near by, Lucius, Fenrir, and a man Severus didn't recognized lay on the ground, panting as well.

"You failed me," growled the Dark Lord. His eyes flicked to Severus, who had been the last to enter.

"Have you anything new to report to me, Severus?"

"No, my lord," he said. The Dark Lord scowled once more.

"Why must all my spies fail me?" he growled. "Someone pick that filth up," he said, gesturing to Fenrir. "Now, one of the two of you will die, I wonder who it will be."

"My lord," gasped the man Severus didn't know.

"Quiet!" snapped Voldemort, eyes glinting once more. "I will let Ari decide, she has been so busy these past few weeks, and I think she deserves a treat. Attack."

She lunged forward just as she had before, only this time she went straight for the neck. The man besides Lucius was dead before his scream could even leave his lips. She turned on Lucius next, but he had used the mans plight to his advantage. He sent her flying back into a large stone column. The force of his spell sent her crashing through it, the column falling on top of her.

Voldemort scowled and got to his feet once the dust had settled. Lucius tried to plead, saying he hadn't meant to kill his Lord's Pet. Voldemort looked at the rubble and turned.

"Perhaps you are of some use to me after all, Lucius. Get back in line." He motioned for someone to clear the rubble and dismissed them. Severus didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay and make sure that Amanda was alive. But he couldn't, the Dark Lord had ordered them all out.

Once again Severus felt his anger rising, how many times had they lost Amanda? And for what? Once to Fenrir, because he had taken a liking to her, once to Barty Crouch, because she'd gotten in the way, and now, to Voldemort because Dumbledore had sent her in there.

Severus stormed once again up to the castle and entered through the side door. He didn't even take time to change from his Death Eater robes before storming into Dumbledore's office. Minerva was there, all the better.

"How dare you send her there?" he yelled, furious. Dumbledore calmly peered at him over his half moon spectacles.

"I am going to have to ask you to calm yourself, Severus."

"Calm myself! After what you may have done to her? Why did you send her to him? What could you have possibly needed that someone else couldn't have sufficed?"

"I already told you Severus, Amy was the only one who could have gotten what we required."

Professor McGonagall, who had been sitting quietly in the background, now stood up.

"Where have you sent Amy?" she asked, an edge of fear in her voice.

"Yes Dumbledore," sneered Severus, "where _have_ you sent Minerva's daughter?"

Dumbledore didn't move from his seat, staring up at them over his half moon spectacles.

"I have already told the both of you –"

"Albus," Minerva said, stopping him, "where is my daughter?"

Her voice was soft but icy. Dumbledore sighed and for a moment every year of his ancient life seemed to show in the lines of his face.

"Please, take a seat and I will explain everything I can." He waited until they complied. "Amy has a unique ability that she has learned from her friends in the Forbidden Forest, this ability makes it possible for her to gain information from Voldemort himself that will, I believe, prove crucial to his eventual destruction. I learned that Lucius was going to give Voldemort a pet as a gift to show his loyalty, it was not hard to put Amy in its place."

There was a moment of silence, and then –

"HOW DARE YOU SEND HER TO HIM?" Minerva had exploded, her cheeks were red and her hands were balled into fists at her sides. "She is _my_ daughter and you didn't even think to tell me what you where sending her into? She could _die_, and for what? So you can further your schemes against Him?"

"I believe Amanda able to take care of herself," Dumbledore said, "this was her decision."

"Only because you asked!" Minerva screeched. "She does everything you ask! She is just a child! Who knows what kind of danger she has gotten herself into around them?"

"Amy does have an uncanny ability to land herself in the midst of trouble," Severus said.

"Uncanny?" Minerva shrieked, "That girl is _always_ in trouble! If she's not in trouble then it's only so that something even worse can happen later! Your plan is going to get her killed!"

"Minerva, please calm –" Dumbledore broke off, looking past them.

"Please, don't stop on my account," snarled a voice.

Amanda stood in the doorway, looking like the walking dead. Her clothes were tattered and mud and blood clung to every visible piece of skin. Her left eye was closed and looked as if it had been slashed by something. Blood dripped from her right arm.

No one moved except Amanda. She reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. A flick of the wrist summoned a few glass vials to the table next to her and Amanda filled them quickly, using her wand to pull silvery strands of memory from her mind.

Fawkes swooped down, preparing to land on her shoulder. But Amanda moved and waved him off, hissing harshly at the bird to leave her alone. The phoenix hovered in surprise before perching on a bookshelf. Dumbledore stood up and stepped around his desk, moving towards Amanda. He cupped her face in his hands and made her look up at him, opening his mouth to speak. She cut him off.

"I'm tired," she said, her voice flat, "I want to go lay down."

He released her and stepped back, looking weary. Professor McGonagall stepped towards them but he held up his hands to stop her, she looked at Amanda anxiously.

"Are you sure you shouldn't go to the hospital wing?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I just want to go lay down."

"Very well then," Dumbledore said. "Will we see you at dinner tomorrow?"

"I think not," she said, turning around to leave. "And incidentally, your stairs have a rather large amount of blood on them; you may want to look into it."

The three remaining Professors just stood and watched her leave, not sure how to react. The fire crackled and Fawkes crooned from his perch. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Well," she said, her voice cracking, "I hope it is worth it."

And then she left, pausing only for a moment on the stairs to let out a strange strangled sounding noise before disappearing. The ancient face of Dumbledore seemed to have aged another lifetime; he truly looked for a moment nothing more then an old man.

Severus walked out then, leaving his Headmaster to think. Amanda had been right, there was a lot of blood on the stairs, it had been smeared on the wall and was splattered on the steps, and there were small puddles in places, from when she had stopped to catch her breath. He went to his rooms, pleased to find that Umbridge wasn't up and about, stalking through the hallways.

Not long after reaching his rooms, Severus found himself once again traipsing through the hallways, only this time clean and in his normal robes. His footsteps lead him to a small statue of a dragon, curled up as if asleep. Peeves floated past, carrying a small rubber duck and cackling gleefully.

"A duck," said Snape, "what next?"

The small dragon shifted and the wall in front of him started to slide back, revealing a staircase. He briefly wondered if 'a duck' had been the password and climbed the stairs quickly. There was blood on the wall here too, though much less then before. Just when Severus began to wonder if the staircase would ever lead him somewhere a door appeared around the bend. He knocked.

"Enter," came the flat voice from within.

Inside there was no one, just empty chairs and an empty fireplace. But one door was open and he followed it in. Amanda was sitting on the edge of her bed, clean and showered and in a tank top and shorts. A roll of bandages was in her hand but she just sat there, she didn't even look up at him.

Neither one said anything, and Severus began to wonder what his purpose had been for coming up here.

"I've never looked in your mind, by the way." Her voice was low but sincere, and he found himself nodding for no reason. "No matter how much I wanted to know what you where thinking."

"How did you do it?" She finally looked up at him "Make your mind look like nothing more then that of a dog?"

"I didn't, I changed what you thought you were seeing so it looked to you as if you were looking at a dog."

"You can make people think they can see things even when they are not?"

"Not you, I haven't made a hole in your mind. I could only do it then because you had entered my mind."

"Holes?"

"Once I get into a persons mind, all their memories, all their thoughts, their emotions, all are laid bare before me. There are so many that it takes me a long time and a lot of concentration to find the ones that I want. So, in every mind I enter, I leave a hole, a back door, if you will, that allows me to slip back in at will."

Neither said anything after that. A clock on the wall ticked away the minutes and still neither spoke. Severus didn't know how to ask what he wanted and Amanda simply stared, aimlessly, at the painting on the wall. Finally, Severus just asked the question, the one where the answer is just as complex as the question is simple:

"Are you okay?"

She didn't look at him like he was crazy, and she didn't spit a sarcastic comment back at him, both responses that Severus would have expected. Instead, Amanda merely leaned back until she was lying on her back with her feet hanging off the edge of the bed and started to speak in a monotone voice.

"I saw everything. What he did to all of those people, how he tortured them, how they begged for mercy… and how he laughed. I saw all of the memories of the people whose minds he had entered." She paused, the only sound the ticking of the clock. "I saw you. I heard the prophecy spill from your lips and watched you beg for her life. And I saw him take it."

Once again, silence fell. Severus wanted to tell her that she hadn't answered his question, but he already knew how she was feeling. She was disgusted with him and wanted him to get as far away from her as possible. He turned to leave but her voice stopped him. It was far from the monotone she had been using since he had walked in.

"Please, don't leave." Severus turned around to find that the look in her eyes was anything but disdainful. Her eyes were filled with pain, exhaustion, and fear. "I don't want to be alone," she whispered.

He looked at her ankle, which was still bleeding, and her arm, where a large gash was steadily oozing out blood.

"You should wrap those up," he said, not knowing what else there was to say.

Severus watched as she sat up slowly and struggled to reach her ankle and bandage it properly. He moved over and pushed her hands out of the way. He made her lay back on the bed before gently wrapping the bandage around her ankle and foot, making sure it wasn't too tight but not too lose either. After that he climbed onto the bed, straddling her and bandaged her arm as well. Next he used a numbing ointment on her bruises, starting at the bottom and working his way up the visible parts of her body until every last bruise was covered.

Amanda just lay, unmoving under his ministrations with her eyes closed. When his hands stopped moving over her she opened her eyes to see what was wrong. Her shirt had ridden up slightly and Severus could see her scar. He reached down a hand to touch it but stopped, looking to her for permission. She hesitated, looked deep into his eyes and nodded.

Severus lifted her shirt a little higher, stopping just below her breasts, where the scar ended. He traced a soft finger over the raised skin, marveling at the softness of the skin around it. Her breathing hitched as his fingers slid over the sensitive skin. He had leaned down to look at it better, and his hair and breath tickled her skin, sending tingles running up and down her spine in waves. It almost scared her, but she needed him to keep touching her, to reassure her that they were real, that she wasn't going to wake back up in that… _place_.

It had been horrible. Every scream, every tortured face, she had felt them all. She'd stumbled on the memory of Voldemort's rebirth and had felt the excruciating pain of being pulled back into existence. Several of her old friends had been in those memories, and through the eyes of Voldemort she had killed them all. Worse then even that was the number of people under His command. Yes, she needed Severus now. More than she had ever needed anything before.

She was shaking now, and Severus looked up, concerned he was hurting her. Amanda grabbed him, pulling him forward and capturing his lips, trying to show him without words just how much she needed him right now.

Severus was in shock, the last thing he had expected was for her to kiss him so passionately. He was swept away by it, one of his hands remaining on her waist while the other reached up to cradle her cheek, pulling her closer, if that was possible. He became aware of a scrabbling at his chest and pulled back, bringing her up with him. Amanda was fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

"Why must you have so many buttons?" she muttered, almost sounding desperate.

A laugh rumbled from deep within his chest and exploded outward. Amanda leaned forward, pressing her face to his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He stopped and looked down at her, confused and afraid he had startled her.

"Amy?"

She sighed.

"You should laugh more often," she whispered, "and wear shirts without buttons."

He chuckled and moved her hands, dealing with the buttons quickly and easily and sliding his shirt off. Amanda pouted slightly.

"Show off."

Severus smiled and held her to his chest. He was still straddling her, only now they were both sitting, wrapped in each others arms. Amanda kissed him, again and again, trailing lines down his chest.

"Amy," he said, trying to gather his thoughts. It was rather hard to think with her kissing trails of fire up and down his chest. "Amy, why did you do it?"

She stopped and moved back to lean her head on his shoulder, now listening intently.

"Why did you put your life at risk like that?"

She seemed to think about it for a long time, the clock ticking away the seconds until she spoke again.

"Because he asked me to," she finally said. "And if it means ending this war any sooner and saving a few lives then I could see little reason not to."

Amanda had always been honest with him, and the fact that she said there was little reason not to go meant that she hadn't thought over the fact that she could die, or perhaps she hadn't cared. She effectively tore the thought out of his head, kissing along his jaw and down his neck.

"One more, Amy," he said, barley remembering what it was he had been about to say.

She moved back up to his neck but didn't stop kissing him softly. Severus grabbed her chin and made her look at him.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" She sighed and pushed his hand away, laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Please," she whispered. "Severus, please, I need you."

That was all it took. He forgot she was injured, that she was a colleague, that this was Professor McGonagall's daughter, that he was a spy against the Dark Lord and that he could die any day. All that mattered was her. He wanted to hear her voice, his name, for her to be happy because of _him_, and to claim her as his own. His last rational thought before he lost himself was that he never wanted to lose this.

**Sorry I didn't get one up yesterday, they've been giving us all mounds of homework. So that was probably a bit off character, sorry again. Let me know what you all think, and I'll try to get another chapter up soon.**


	28. Toad Face

Severus woke in a kind of bliss that he had never felt before. Amanda was laying next to him, her head on his chest and her arms around his waist. Her skin, paler than even his, glowed in the soft light that filtered through her window. He ran a hand down her back and smiled at the soft moan that escaped from parted lips. The smile slipped from his face when he looked at the bruises that were still visible on her back and arms. He hadn't been exactly gentle last night, and he'd been surprised to discover that he was her first. He was afraid he might have hurt her; she was so small compared to him.

Severus shifted, disentangling his other hand from her hair. It was everywhere, splayed out behind her is soft waves, except where he'd tangled his hand into it sometime during the night. He rubbed her shoulder, caressed her cheek, not minding that she was asleep, he liked to watch her. She was beautiful when she was asleep, she was always beautiful.

A knock on the door ended his bliss. It was a sharp, clean knock. One he knew all too well, Dolores Umbridge, he would bet his life on it. He scowled and turned to Amanda, upset that the woman was here to bother Amanda already. It was actually amazing that she had not come to bother them earlier.

"Amy," he said, "You need to wake up now, there's someone at the door."

She mumbled incoherently and he tried again, this time a little more forcefully. "I can't open the door, and trust me, she won't go away." Amanda opened her eyes blearily.

"Alright, alright, I'm up," she said, getting up and taking the sheet with her. Severus smirked.

"What are you hiding? I was here last night, you know."

She blushed furiously and stuck her tongue out at him. He just chuckled. From her dresser Amanda pulled out a long black robe, it shimmered when she moved. She threw the sheet at him and quickly pulled on some underwear, already tightening the robe by the time he could disentangle himself. She stuck her tongue out once more and brushed back her hair before leaving the room, shutting the bedroom door firmly.

The knocker, whoever it was, hadn't stopped knocking the whole time Amanda had been getting properly attired. She cursed herself for not asking Severus who it was and plastered a smile on her face before opening the door.

A short woman in a bright pink cardigan was waiting, looking impatient but smiling sweetly. She reminded Amanda of a toad.

"I'm sorry you had to wait, I'm afraid I wasn't expecting anyone to visit," she said, trying to sound as sweet as the smile on toad-faces face. "If I may, how did you guess my password?"

The strange woman sniffed.

"As High Inquisitor to the Ministry of Magic, it is my privilege to know the passwords to every room at Hogwarts."

"Ah, you must be Professor Umbridge, how nice to meet you." The smile she had plastered to her face was starting to ache.

"May I come in?" Umbridge asked, craning her head just a little to look inside.

"Of course, though you will of course have to excuse the mess, I haven't cleaned since I left."

This was absolute bull, the room had been spotless before she left and the house elves had kept it that way. But Professor Umbridge followed her in anyways.

"Where have you been, may I ask?" It didn't sound like a question. "You've missed quite a lot; nearly a month has passed since the start of term." The woman was looking around critically; it reminded Amanda of her mother, only much worse.

"Family issues, they were quite ill. I'm only sorry mother couldn't come. I like your cardigan, by the way. The color is brilliant."

"Funny," she said, her voice high. "You seemed to be more of a black person."

"Oh yes, I can't wear pinks, they make the red in my face stand out."

This was another lie, there was almost no color at all in Amanda's face, and Umbridge, however, was almost as pink as the sweater she was wearing.

"Family, you said? Where at?"

"America, another reason mother couldn't come, she doesn't really like it there." Amanda grimaced, allowing some of the pain from other memories to show on her face. "If you don't mind, could we talk about something else? It has only been a few days and I'm afraid the death of some of my closest friends has affected me greatly."

"I hope it won't affect your teaching skills." Umbridge said, looking rather put off.

"Of course not, that would be rather unprofessional, don't you think?"

"Yes," she said, still smiling sweetly. "I will, of course, be popping into one of your classes, just to check up on things. It's why I'm here."

"Of course, and I am sure you will be well pleased. It was nice meeting you," Amanda said, standing up and moving to the door.

Professor Umbridge stood and left without another word. Amanda waited until the stone door had closed before slamming the door shut and stalking back to her bedroom.

Severus was facing away from her when she entered; he had put his pants on and was just picking up his shirt. Amanda walked up and put her arms around him, leaning her face into his back and closing her eyes, suddenly feeling dizzy. He turned in her grasp and wrapped her into his own arms maneuvering her back towards the bed easily. Her head spun and a pain began to form in the center of her head, Amanda tightened her grip around him.

"I didn't think you would become this clingy," said Severus, teasing her slightly.

The pain grew fierce and Amanda felt as if her mind was going to explode out of her head. Her nails dug into Severus's back as she tightened her grip on him even more, he wouldn't let her fall. Amanda whimpered and her knees gave out, leaving Severus as the only thing holding her up.

She had left too much of herself in Voldemorts mind, and now that she was awake enough to notice, it was trying to pull back together. The defenses around his mind were such that the 'pieces' couldn't escape, so it was as if her mind was trying to go to them and pulling itself out of her in the process.

Amanda felt something hard and warm at her back and realized that Severus had laid her back on the bed. He was saying something as well but she couldn't catch what it was. She opened her eyes to see that his normally cold dark eyes were filled with concern. His eyes swam in her vision and everything became blurry. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the link between her and Lord Voldemorts mind, she had to get around his defenses and free what was left of her own mind before the pain made her go crazy.

Amanda followed the link back to his mind. His memories and thoughts pressed against her but she ignored them, looking for the best way to shatter the defense around his mind. He would know then, he would know that something was wrong, though he wouldn't know what. And she would lose the link. The months Amanda had spent in his mind had made their link strong, she would have been able to feel him if he was anywhere within a hundred miles, but that was lost now. With a wrench fueled by anger and disappointment Amanda pulled herself free and fled back to her own mind, jerking slightly as she became aware of her surroundings once again. Severus was leaning above her, still looking down at her in concern. Once again in her own mind Amanda was exhausted. Her head throbbed and she panted slightly, her eyes drooping.

"Are you alright?" asked Severus, reaching up to push the hair out of her face. Amanda nodded weakly.

"Should I be expecting this often?"

She shook her head, "No, I made a mistake before I left last night, I have fixed it."

Severus stood up and pulled the blankets up around her shoulders and placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"I'll come and see you after dinner, alright?"

She nodded once again, her eyes already closing.

"Thanks Sev," Amanda was asleep before Severus had even shut the door.

Thousands of miles away Voldemort hissed at the sudden pain in his head. He felt as if something was lost, as if there had been something there that he hadn't been aware of. Someone had been in his mind. He growled in anger and unleashed his new fury no those around him, it had to be one of them, and they would pay.

People were screaming. She could see them now, fleeing in terror, but they wouldn't get away. Amanda raced after them, running on all fours for extra speed. She caught up to one and pulled him down, sinking her claws into his back. She instinctively knew his name, Gregory, once a victim of Lord Voldemort and now one of hers as well. Blood flowed over her hands. Her next victim was a pregnant woman, trying to shield her belly and her three year-old son at the same time. She had an annoying scream, it grated at the ears. The woman's son died first, his mother following shortly.

Amanda screamed, waking with a start. She curled up into a ball, tears still pouring down her face. The dreams were getting worse, most likely from her time spent in Voldemorts mind. She shuddered and drew a shaky breath, fighting not to sob. The dark room seemed to echo with the last screams of her victims and Amanda sprang to her feet, quickly dressing and braiding her hair back with deft fingers. It was time for dinner, and she didn't want to stay here, not after that.

It felt good to be back in the hallways of Hogwarts, and by the time she had reached the back entrance of the Great Hall Amanda had stopped shaking. She was a few minutes early, but even so all the chairs were full. She slid in next to Dumbledore and whispered in his ear.

"Is it too late for me to reconsider joining you all for dinner?" Her voice was firm and steady, if a bit duller then normal, and Dumbledore smiled when he turned to her.

"Of course not, let me draw you a chair."

And he did, literally, with his wand. He drew her a seat between Professor's McGonagall and Flitwick. Amanda seated herself quietly, still a little dishelved from her dreams and irritated by what she'd overheard in Dumbledore's office yesterday. Professor Flitwick was excited; he struck up a conversation almost the moment she had sat down.

"I'm so glad you're back, my girl," he said, twisting around in his seat. "I will of course be sad to go, but I've been looking forward to retirement for years. When do you think you can start teaching?"

Amanda felt like beaming at her dwarf like colleague, he was just so excited, but all she managed was a small quirk of the lips

"If you can bear to part with your students so soon, I would like to start tomorrow."

Flitwick positively beamed. Amanda couldn't help but glance at her mother, waiting to see if she would make a comment. Professor McGonagall merely nodded in her direction.

"Oh yes? Even better!"

He went on to ramble the rest of dinner away. It was easy to talk to Professor Flitwick; he carried the conversation all by himself, requiring only brief nods or sounds of agreement.

At the end of the feast Dumbledore stood up, making a small noise to get everyone's attention. It had always amazed Amanda how just by making that small noise, which no one heard anyways, he could silence the whole hall.

"I wish to inform you all that Professor Flitwick will be retiring, and today was his last day of teaching. Tomorrow Professor McGonagall, whom many of you will remember from last year, will be replacing him as our Charms professor and as Head of Ravenclaw."

There were many cheers from the students at the announcement of her name. Fred and George even climbed onto their seats to give a standing ovation.

After that the students filed from the hall, gossiping and speculating about what the new teacher would be like. Amanda rose from her seat quickly, even though she had slept the day away she still felt tired and wanted to at least return to her room. Someone fell into step behind her and Amanda whipped around, pulling her wand out on instinct. Severus raised an eyebrow at her.

"I did tell you I would be checking up on you after dinner," he said.

"Sorry," she said, smiling sheepishly and stowing her wand back in her robes. "Will you be escorting me to my room then?"

He nodded and they walked in silence, occasionally passing a student or a fellow teacher. Amanda nodded to them as she passed and Severus merely ignored them or sneered like always.

They wandered up to her rooms in silence, pausing only a moment for Amanda to change the password to 'toad.' Severus looked around in appreciation of her room; the sheer amount of books had astonished him. He settled himself in one of the overlarge blue armchairs while Amanda busied herself in the kitchen making tea. She returned and handed him some tea before moving to take the other chair but Severus grabbed her arm, pulling her gently into the seat next to him. Amanda smiled at him playfully.

"Did you want something?"

He ignored her and sipped his tea but didn't let her get up. Amanda rolled her eyes and drank her own tea, leaning into Severus comfortably. After they had finished Amanda left to put their cups away. She returned with a book, which she plopped into his lap before settling in beside him again. He stared at the book, his face unreadable.

Severus turned the book over in his hands, he recognized it, it was the book that Amanda had bought just before Fenrir Greyback had attacked her. He couldn't speak.

"I got it for you ages ago but kept forgetting to give it to you," she said, waiting for him to say something. He made a strange strangled noise in the back of his throat.

"Severus," she said, "are you alright?"

He sighed.

"Before you left I had to tell the Dark Lord about you, Fenrir Greyback admitted to knowing of you. After the meeting I attacked him and broke into his mind. I had to know." He stopped to look at her. "I saw what he did to you. He followed you all day before he attacked you."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"This is the book you picked up that day, I recognize it."

Amanda scooted away from him, he sounded angry.

"It doesn't matter," she whispered.

Severus stood up angrily, throwing the book back down in his seat and starting to pace.

"It does! Don't you see? If you hadn't been looking for this book then you wouldn't have gotten captured, you would still be healthy and we wouldn't have lost you for a whole year!"

Amanda got up and wrapped her arms him, pressing her face into his back.

"Why does that matter? In any case, had it not been the book then I would have been there for some other reason, I practically live there over the summer! It doesn't matter in the slightest."

Instead of calming him, this just made Severus angrier; he broke away from her before turning and grabbing her shoulders, shaking her slightly.

"Why must you always do that?" he shouted, shaking her again. "You always seem to think of yourself as so worthless! And yet you always try to help people and be kind to them, even when they don't deserve it! You seem to go through life thinking that if you disappeared no one would care, or even notice!"

He had broken away during his rant, waving his arms around for emphasis but he returned now, grabbing her once again so she had to look him in the eyes. "And you couldn't be more wrong, so many people would be devastated by your loss that they probably couldn't hold a funeral big enough! And yet you don't even see it! What can I do to make you see that? How can I make you care?"

Amanda stood limply in his arms for a moment, taking in what he had said. She stared at him for a moment as if he were absolutely crazy before she began to speak, softly and sincerely.

"You already do, Severus." Now it was her that was pacing and waving her arms around wildly. "Every smile, every laugh, every chuckle you make makes me know that. Because I know that _I_ did that. That you would do something so out of character for me, tells me that. Every time you look at me, or talk to me tells me that I'm not worthless because you don't bother yourself with the worthless. Don't _you_ see? You have always been the reason that I know I matter, you… you…" she couldn't find the words to go on, but Severus stopped her anyways.

Severus took her in his arms, holding her tight against him. He kissed her forehead softly, wishing he could tell her how much he cared for her, but he knew how much damage that could do to the both of them if something went sour, so he kept silent.

They spent the rest of the night pouring over his new book, he liked it a lot. When Amanda fell asleep in his lap Severus just closed the book and leaned back, getting comfortable in the bed sized armchair and falling asleep to the rhythmic sound of her heart beating.


	29. Charming Accidents

The next day Harry found himself feeling rather apprehensive about Charms class. Fred and George, looking rather shocked, had come up and told Harry that Charms under Professor McGonagall the younger was much different then under Flitwick. They hadn't told him exactly what they had meant by that, however, and he was worried.

Professor Umbridge was waiting for them, sitting in a chair in the far corner. Ron leaned over, "I wonder if both McGonagall's will react the same to her interference. It's not really fair, shoving Umbridge on her her first day back."

Harry wasn't so sure, Professor McGonagall had handled Snape rather well, and if she could do that then she should be able to deal with Umbridge as well. The class filed in, taking their seats and looking around nervously, they had all been told that the class would be different, but no one had said exactly how it would be different.

Just as the bell rang Professor McGonagall walked in, closing the large doors behind her with a flick of her wand. Just as the other McGonagall had, Amanda completely ignored Professor Umbridge. She stepped up to the podium that Professor Flitwick had always stood behind and sat, staring out across the room as if taking them all in. No one spoke, not knowing how she would react. She waited until the last of the stragglers had filtered in, there were quite a few of them, before speaking, her voice low but heard perfectly by all.

"Over the past few weeks, and the four years before that you have been taught by Professor Flitwick, a kind, generous, and forgiving man. _I am not_." She waited a moment for this to sink in. "For those of you who came in late to my class, you may want to take into account that after the bell ring each day I will close and lock the doors, you will be on time to my class or you will not _be_ in my class. If you have a legitimate reason then after class you may speak to me about make up work."

"_Hem, hem,"_ Professor Umbridge made the silly little cough that she had used to interrupt so many of their other teachers, and like her mother before her, Amanda ignored the toad-faced Professor completely.

"I will not tolerate any misbehavior and have no problems failing each and every one of you. However, I would like to thank you for remaining silent while we waited for your colleagues to join us."

"_Hem, hem," _once again Professor Umbridge tried to interrupt, and once again she was ignored. Professor McGonagall's mouth quirked slightly.

"Today we will be learning a Silencing Charm, and I'm sure you all know how useful such a charm could be. Now, would anyone like to-"

"_Hem, hem," _

Professor McGonagall smiled; it was a Snape smile, or perhaps a Draco smile. It was the kind of smile that only came about because someone else was about to be very sorry. She turned to Professor Umbridge, finishing her sentence quietly, "-volunteer?"

"Why thank you, Professor, I appreciate your willingness to help out."

Professor Umbridge opened her mouth to speak but Amanda beat her to it, pulling her wand out and flicking it in her direction in one fluid movement. Professor Umbridge's mouth opened and closed silently.

"The charm is, 'Silencio,'" she said, turning back to them. "Please be sure to flick with your wrist, not your fingers, and enunciate properly. I suggest you pick a raven from the perches over there."

Professor McGonagall smiled down at them all, looking as if she wanted very much to laugh. Behind her, Professor Umbridge was scribbling furiously on her clip board. Harry and Ron snickered behind their hands before picking a raven each and starting to work, whispering quietly.

Professor Umbridge walked up to Professor McGonagall and tapped her on the shoulder angrily.

"Can I help you, Professor?" she asked innocently. The shorter woman mouthed at her furiously.

"Oh, of course, how silly of me to forget, I do hope you will forgive me," she pulled her wand out and flicked it once more in Umbridge's direction, though much slower then she had the first time. "Was there something you needed?" Though polite, her words were cold as ice, frosting the air between her and the diminutive woman in front of her.

"I was merely wondering if you had received my note," Umbridge spluttered. "The one saying that I would be inspecting your class today?"

"Of course, otherwise I would have already asked you to leave. If you will excuse me," she moved toward Seamus, leaning in so that she was level with him before whispering quietly, "If you do that to that bird again I will have to give you a zero for the day, Mr. Finnegan."

Professor Umbridge continued to wander around for a few minutes, while Amanda watched over her students, correcting them when she noticed something wrong. After a few minutes of this Professor Umbridge approached her again.

"How long have you been teaching, exactly?" Professor McGonagall looked at the clock before giving Umbridge her full attention.

"I have been teaching at Hogwarts for nearly three hours and fifteen minutes. I taught at Beauxbatons for twelve years before this, however."

"And you went to school here before mysteriously disappearing?"

"I hardly call it mysterious," Amanda said, still sounding light but frosty.

"To work at another school?"

"I suppose this is relevant?"

For a moment Harry looked around, wondering where Snape was. The words had left her mouth in exactly the same sly way and she wore the same sneer on her face, the only differences between the two were the eyes. Snape's eyes were always dark and full of loathing, Professor McGonagall had the piercing blue eyes that Harry had always associated with Dumbledore, and they weren't filled with hatred, it was more of a polite look that somehow gave one the feeling of being the lowest scum on the earth. Professor Umbridge stepped back slightly before gathering herself up angrily.

"Oh yes," she said, "the Ministry wants a thorough background of teachers' pasts."

Professor McGonagall just walked away to deal with a student, leaving Professor Umbridge to scribble on her clipboard frantically.

"Excuse me," said Professor McGonagall, nearing the end of class. Several students fell silent, some did not. Instead of shouting to be heard Professor McGonagall merely raised her wand, and instant silence fell as several of their classmates found that they could no longer talk. "Another example of the use of this charm," she said, smiling slightly. "Now, I'm assigning homework for you all." Those that could groaned and she chuckled. "Don't worry, its not that hard, I just want to know what kind of work I can expect from you all. You are to pick a charm you like, whether its one you have learned or not, and write a short paragraph on why you like it. You may have the rest of the class to get started if you wish. Oh," she said, as an after thought, "those of you who can't talk have lost a point each for their houses, next time it will be more."

Umbridge approached her.

"You will be receiving the results of today's inspection in ten days time," she said stiffly.

"Coolsauce," Amanda said, barely paying attention to her.

Professor Umbridge stalked from the room and shortly after the bell rang, leaving them all free to scurry to their next class. Amanda sighed happily and plopped down behind the podium. She couldn't see the door then. She growled and waved her wand, transfiguring it into a neat desk just as the door opened and Dumbledore stepped in. He smiled up at her.

"Fitting in well?"

"Yes, thank you. I just had a lovely group of fifth years and a High Inquisitor."

"I thought she looked rather upset, troubles?"

"Oh I'm sure, but nothing to worry about." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"I would watch out for her, she may have more power then you think."

"Don't worry about me, Albus; I'm sure that if she tries something I'll find a way out of it. It's one of my talents, after all, getting out of things."

He looked sad for a moment, almost as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Students started to file in behind them.

"I will take your word on it and leave you to your students," he said, bowing his head to her before leaving.

Amanda looked down on her students as a cat watches a mouse, it couldn't hurt to frighten them a little.

Amanda's classes quickly turned into the talk of the day, and the days following. No one could remember a teacher that could be as cruel or nasty as Snape always was and as kind as Dumbledore at the same time. They also discovered that Professor McGonagall was completely unbiased to the houses, something almost unheard of, even the elder McGonagall had been known to budge a little bit for the Gryffindors. But she was sly, often teaching them defensive spells as an example of what a charm wasn't or perhaps helping them with a nasty piece of homework from another class, often Potions.

Even Filch had taken a liking to the woman, if only because he got to give out a lot more punishments because of her. He lurked around her classroom between classes to catch the stragglers; true to her word Amanda had locked the doors the very second the bell stopped ringing for every one of her classes. Filch had become ecstatic when he first discovered that she wouldn't let them in even if they banged on the doors.

She also took the time to get to know almost all of her students. She did, however, seem to take a slight disliking to Hermione Granger.

"Who can tell me the difference between a silencing charm and a charm to take away ones voice?"

Hermione's hand instantly shot into the air and everyone just turned to look at her. Amanda sighed, this was becoming a pattern and it was interfering with the teaching of her other students.

"Miss Granger," she said coldly, "are you that much of a know-it-all, or do you just lack tact? Does anyone else know the answer?"

A few people raised their hands, looking rather shocked. After class Amanda called Granger back.

"I don't want you to think I was trying to humiliate you, it is just that if you always answer the questions then no one else will even try, and if they don't try then they won't learn. I realize that you like to answer questions but perhaps in the future you could wait, and answer when no one else seems to know."

After that Hermione was a little more subdued, applying the idea of waiting in all her classes, it was a bit of a relief to all the teachers; they finally got to see what their other students were capable of.

"Potter!"

Amanda was patrolling the corridors and it was well after midnight, not the time for students to be wandering around. Harry jumped and spun around, one hand reaching for his wand. Amanda's wand was already pointing straight between his eyes, merely an inch away.

"While I admire your readiness," she said, lowering her wand, "you should be in bed."

"I had detention with Umbridge," he said, stowing his own wand away sheepishly, "just got out."

Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes, looking at him suspiciously. "What happened to your hand?"

"Nothing," he said, trying to hide it.

"Let me see it," she said, sounding both concerned and stern, like a mother.

He held it out automatically. She pulled the scarf away carefully and examined the lettering, pursing her lips.

"Professor Umbridge's work, I believe?" Harry nodded and Amanda waved her wand over the wound, muttering incoherently. He felt a slight stinging sensation and the skin twitched, flowing over the mark seamlessly, leaving it just a little red.

"I suggest Essence of Murtlap; you could probably get some from Professor Snape."

Harry muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "I could get some poison too, provided of course that I promise to drink it in front of him."

"Do you remember what I said about insulting the Professor's of this school? I still stand by that. Besides, if Professor Snape wasn't stingy about potion ingredients then he would be up to his ears in debt. The supply of potions ingredients is already over budget, and any extra comes out of Professor Snape's pocket, so don't take it personally." She straightened up, giving him a reassuring smile. "I have to ask Professor Snape for a favor anyways, I will see what I can do about getting you some Essence of Murtlap, it will help."

Harry nodded, looking much relieved now that the pain in his hand was gone but not believing that she would manage to get the Essence of Murtlap from Snape.

He couldn't have been more wrong. The next night, as he was serving his detention with Snape she proved it to him. He was peeling the skin off of pickled salamanders, an unpleasant enough task with magic, without it it was just plain cruel. Harry kept himself entertained pretending the skin he was peeling off was Snape's. A knock on the door distracted him.

"Enter," Snape barked, as always.

Professor McGonagall the younger walked in, her dark blue robes swishing silently behind her and her black hair swinging from its braid around her hips. Snape scowled at her, and she scowled right back.

"Don't look so happy to see me," she said sarcastically, "you're scaring your student." Snape moved his glare to Potter and she continued. "Besides, there are worse people who could be coming down here to disturb you at this late hour."

"As sure of this as you may be, _I_ am not so confident."

"Either way, I need a favor."

"This would be the reason that I wasn't so sure."

In his eagerness to listen in on their conversation, Harry knocked over a foul smelling jar, it froze midair and he looked up, surprised. Professor McGonagall had her wand out, looking irritated, Snape, on the other hand, looked furious. He opened his mouth to speak but Professor McGonagall beat him to it.

"Can't you watch what you're doing, Potter?" Snape stared at her in shock. "Well? Don't just stand there; get back to whatever it is you were doing."

Harry went back to his peeling and she turned back to Snape, stowing her wand back in her pocket. Snape stared at her for just a moment longer before moving back to his own work.

"What is it you need?" he said grudgingly.

"I would appreciate it if you could either find the time to produce a few very large batches of Cheering Solution and a large jar of Essence of Murtlap, or allow me to take the ingredients for each from your store."

Harry jerked slightly, almost knocking the jar off the table again; she hadn't forgotten his hand. Severus scowled.

"What do you need all the Cheering Solution for?"

"A demonstration for my classes."

Severus sat back, looking at her for a moment before standing and walking away, leaving Amanda standing by his desk. He returned a moment later holding a large jar of something gray. It landed in front of Professor McGonagall with a slight 'thunk.'

"I'll get you your Cheering Solution tomorrow morning." She picked up the jar and nodded to him, smiling sincerely.

"Can I pick it up after breakfast?"

Severus just nodded.

"Thank you, Professor, it is much appreciated."

He grunted and returned to his papers.

"See you in class, Potter." Amanda said, bouncing out of the classroom enthusiastically. "See you around, Professor!" she called back.

Harry looked to Snape to see what his reaction to the excited Professor would be. The Potions Master hadn't moved, except maybe to reach for another paper.

It didn't take long for Amanda to get to put her cheering solution to good use; she had only to wait until the next day, in fact. When Harry and the others entered her class the next day they found Professor McGonagall perched on her desk in the front of the room with a large cauldron full of a light yellow mixture bubbling in front of her. She waited until the bell rang before locking the doors as was customary with her and addressing the class.

"Today and tomorrow we are going to do a bit – Mr. Finnegan bring me that magazine – of an experiment," she said, not missing a beat. Seamus brought the magazine up and set it on the desk next to her, it was some muggle thing a friend had given him. "We're going to see what the difference between a Cheering Charm and a Cheering Solution is. Now, I want you all to pair up, try to pick someone you'll see over the next few hours. Then decide which one of you will take the potion today and which will take it tomorrow."

Professor McGonagall waited while they all paired up; Harry and Ron, Seamus and Dean, and so on. Poor Neville was left at the end, standing in the middle of the room hopelessly.

"It seems that we have an odd number of students, you can practice on me, Mr. Longbottom."

Neville looked as if he wanted to wet his pants, Professor McGonagall managed to scare him almost as much as Snape, and she gave less warning about it. Harry was more worried about Professor McGonagall, Neville wasn't the best at magic, and when he got nervous he was even worse, often with disastrous results.

They got to work almost immediately, with Neville waving his wand a few times to no effect. Professor McGonagall showed him the correct movement again patiently but had to leave him for a moment before he could try it out. Hermione's partner had collapsed into uproarious laughter, holding her sides tightly. The girl had to be escorted to a quiet room, where she would spend the next few hours calming down. Seeing Hermione fail had only heightened Neville's own nerves, making him shake uncontrollably.

His raised his wand shakily and said the spell, waving his arm around in a poor imitation of the pattern they were supposed to be using.

The wand appeared to explode. Professor McGonagall was thrown back over the cauldron and over her desk, crashing into a shelf of books and causing them all to come tumbling down on top of her, completely burying the Charms Professor. The class fell silent in shock, their wands still raised from their own practices. Neville was staring in open mouthed horror, now shaking so violently his robes swayed around him.

Once the dust settled they were able to see her hand poking out from the rubble, someone screamed, "You've killed her!" The hand twitched, and the books shifted. Several students rushed forward to help, pushing books away and helping their Professor to her feet. She stood up and winced, dusting off her robes and saying, "I am not dead, Miss. Hart, and I'll thank you all to close your mouths, we are not fish."

Professor McGonagall stepped over to her desk and sat gingerly in her chair, pulling her wand out as she went.

"Ten points each to those of you who moved books, except you, Mr. Thomas, throwing books is never acceptable. You should all go back to your pairs now, I still expect you to learn this charm."

She waved Neville over as the others went back to work, he approached slowly, looking more terrified then anyone had ever seen him. "Perhaps we'll wait and you can work on this again tomorrow." She raised her wand and flicked it at him. Neville tensed for a moment and then smiled, now under the affects of her Cheering Charm.

Amanda spent the rest of her class in her seat, calling out their homework from behind her desk. "You will inform your partners when your potion or charm wears off and record the time difference, bring it to class tomorrow." She also spent the rest of her other classes in her seat, moving only when absolutely necessary and wincing slightly with each step.

It wasn't long after her last student had filtered out that Amanda was visited by someone else. The elder McGonagall approached.

"Mr. Longbottom seems to be under the impression that you are going to kill him," she said, taking in the broken bookshelf and the pile of books behind Amanda. "What happened?"

"I did not realize just how much like Steven Neville is when he gets nervous." She waved a hand in the air, gesturing to the bookcase. "He sent me crashing over my desk and into that shelf, I was buried under books."

"What did you do?"

"I got up, and told him we'd try again tomorrow," she said, shrugging. Professor McGonagall looked slightly doubtful but turned to leave anyways.

"I think I need to go to the hospital wing," said Amanda quietly.

Her mother turned back around and looked at her in confusion.

"Then why haven't you?"

"I don't think I can make it, I'm," she waved her arm around as if trying to get across that the world was spinning rather faster then normal in directions contrary to the laws of nature, and kept spinning even with her eyes closed, "dizzy." Amanda placed a hand to the back of her head and pulled it back with blood coating her fingertips, "And I'm bleeding." She held her other hand out to Professor McGonagall for support.

Minerva pulled her up and put her arm around her shoulders, allowing Amanda to lean on her heavily. In this fashion they stumbled together down the hallways, both thankful that it was dinner and no one was around to bother them. Walking past a colorful tapestry Amanda suddenly broke off, pushing her mother away and stumbling quickly into a bathroom. Her mother rushed in just in time to see Amanda, clutching the edge of the counter and the wall, lose the contents of her stomach into the toilet. It was mostly liquids; Amanda hadn't had time to really eat anything that day. Her grasp on the counter slipped and she fell heavily next to the toilet, cringing away from it and grasping at her head.

Professor McGonagall pulled her back up and they staggered the rest of the way up to the hospital wing, periodically stopping for Amanda to lean against a wall and catch her breath. When they finally got to the hospital wing Amanda did it again, rushing off to the bathroom to lose whatever else she may have eaten. This time she was huddled on the far side of the room, leaning back against the wall with her eyes closed when Minerva came to get her. Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall maneuvered her onto a bed and gave her a potion to drink; they spent the next half hour trying to keep her awake.

"You need to be more careful," Madame Pomfrey admonished, "I've never had someone who was in here more then you, what with the fights, and the illnesses, and especially that horrible accident in the shrieking shack!"

Amanda hadn't really been listening, instead trying to force her eyes to remember that the world did not spin. But her mother was listening.

"How many fights did she get into?"

"Oh, Amanda was in here at least once a week, often bringing her attackers in with her, usually a few older Gryffindors. Funny thing, she was never in too bad of shape, and after the first few years the attacks stopped."

Madame Pomfrey bustled away after that, going to check on a student that had just wandered in. Professor McGonagall looked at her daughter sadly.

"Why were you a Gryffindor?" Amanda stared at her for a moment, trying to remember what Poppy had been talking about.

"Would you have accepted anything else?"

"I never wanted you to be unhappy."

"It's over now," she said, shrugging. "Wasn't too bad, I learned how to duck pretty well." They sat in silence for awhile longer before Professor McGonagall got up.

"I'll have Poppy get you a Dreamless Sleep Potion, you look exhausted."

"I can't, it's the full moon tonight." She waved a hand at the door. "You should get to dinner; I'm feeling much better now." Her mother leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Rest, at least. I'll find someone to take your classes tomorrow."

"Don't bother, I'll be there."

Professor McGonagall nodded and left. Not much longer Amanda followed her out, stealing outside and quickly transforming into a wolf. She had said she felt better, which was true, she didn't feel as nauseous, but she was still dizzy. In her wolf form she didn't notice as much.

It was a beautiful night, the stars sparkled in the clear sky and the snow glinted in almost as bright. She made her way to the lake, still unfrozen, and sat, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Movement out of the corner of her eye ruined the moment. It was Severus; it seemed he had been called to a Death Eater meeting. She followed him to the edge of the school and barked, catching his attention. She wagged her tail and flattened her ears playfully, laying her head on her paws with her butt still wagging in the air. She thought she saw him smile slightly before slipping on his mask, taking a deep breath, and disappearing. Amanda whimpered and lay down in the snow to wait, she hated when he had to go, he always came back injured.

It started to snow again and before long it covered her, leaving her nearly invisible, save for the two blue eyes that never left the gates. Hours passed while she waited, but she didn't care, she couldn't sleep, and she was too dizzy to do much else.

Finally, he returned, looking tired but unharmed. Amanda rushed over to great him, playfully nudging his hand.

"Have you been waiting here this whole time?" he asked, incredulous. She looked pointedly at the moon.

"Right, silly of me to think you would be reading or grading papers instead of sitting out it the snow."

She wagged her tail enthusiastically, whacking him in the back of the legs repeatedly.

"Alright! Alright!" he said, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "you mangy mutt." She whacked him again and he shivered in the crisp winter air. "You do realize that it is snowing, right?" She nudged his hand and he obligingly pet her, ruffling the fur on the back of her neck. He drew back suddenly.

"Amy, you're bleeding!" Amanda rolled quickly in the snow to wash it off and licked his fingers reassuringly, whining quietly.

They trekked through the snow and made their way through a back entrance so no one would know they had entered, or even been gone, and Severus flicked the snow clear with his wand, leaving almost no tracks. Once in his room Amanda obediently waited in the warm front room, while he changed before joining him.

"No dogs on the bed," he growled, hoping she would just transform and tell him what wad going on.

Amanda just sat by the bed and stared at him, her muzzle resting on the sheets and a pathetic look in her eyes. It worked.

"Oh, just get on," he said irritably.

She jumped up and curled into his side, her head and one paw resting on his chest. He ruffled her fur again and fell asleep promptly, his hand still nestled in her soft fur.

Amanda watched him sleep, lulled by the rhythmic beating of his heart and the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He looked so peaceful when he slept, as if nothing could bother him. Amanda wished her own sleep were as peaceful, nightmares had plagued her constantly since returning to Hogwarts.

She whimpered as her head began to spin again and pushed her muzzle further up his chest, wedging herself under his arm. And then the worlds _swayed_. Amanda leapt up, springing from the bed to the door in one mighty leap. Severus, jolted awake by her sudden movement, looked up just in time to see the wolf disappear into the bathroom and the door slam shut. He heard the faucet kick into life, nearly masking the retching sounds that followed but not quite.

He was there in an instant, throwing open the door to see Amanda, in her human form, leaning over the toilet, looking pale and blood dripping from her mouth. Her eyes were unfocused and she swayed. Severus took her into his arms, pulling her out of the bathroom and setting her back on the bed.

"What happened?"

She whimpered and put her hands to her head, clutching her hair.

"There was an accident in my class; I hit my head rather hard."

"So naturally the first thing you would do is run around as a wolf all night, that makes perfect sense," he said sarcastically, waiting for an explanation.

Amanda lay down and curled into a little ball, holding her head and screwing her eyes shut.

"I don't feel as dizzy like that," she said, wincing once more, "do you mind?"

"Go ahead."

She transformed back, perking up almost immediately and pressing her head against his arm affectionately. Severus rolled his eyes and motioned for her to get comfortable. This time Amanda curled up at the top of the bed and Severus stretched out behind her, wrapping his arm over her shoulder and rubbing her side. He rested his head on her shoulder.

"Aha, so that's what your good for, a pillow."

She thumped him in the leg with her tail, making him chuckle, and nuzzled his hand tenderly. Severus quickly fell back asleep, nice and warm with his arms wrapped in Amanda's warm fur.

**So cute. Well that's all for today, I hope you all got a kick out of Umbridge.**


	30. Look! Fluff!

It was a long time before either of them woke again, sleeping in for the both of them, but still long before any students would be awake. Amanda had fallen asleep as soon as the moon had set and was now facing Severus, one of his arms trapped in her paws. Severus opened his eyes blearily and looked at her; she was gnawing softly on his hand. He pulled it away and rubbed the side of her head, she caught his hand again and growled softly at it, still fast asleep. A chuckle escaped him; she was still just a big puppy after all.

The fingers of his other hand slid through her soft and warm fur. It gleamed even in the dark. Before his eyes and under his very fingers she slipped back into her human form. Her long legs were curled close to his and her skin was smooth under his fingers. Instead of her white fur it was her long black hair that shone brightly, some small straggles falling over her face. She was beautiful and a sense of burning want filled him. He tensed as he realized she was still gnawing on his hand, her soft lips closed around one of his fingers and sucking softly. He could feel her tongue in the back of her mouth, caressing his finger tenderly.

Severus felt himself grow tense and shifted carefully, pulling the blanket over his legs and trying to move as little as possible; he definitely didn't want her to wake up when he was in this awkward position. His movement made her shift slightly, moving from his finger to biting his thumb. A moment later Amanda's eyes opened and she jerked back, realizing that she was eating his hand. A furious blush spread across her face when she saw he was awake.

"Sorry," she muttered, trying to pull the blanket over herself and not meeting his eyes. Severus's hands shot out and stopped her from pulling the blankets away, now it was him that couldn't meet her eyes. Amanda's eyes widened and her blush got even deeper when she saw the bulge. She buried himself in his bare chest, muttering, "sorry," again, but not before he got a glimpse of her bright red face. He could feel her hot breath washing into his side and shuddered from keeping so still. After a few moments he heard her voice again, still muffled into the side of his chest,

"You know, I could fix that."

He felt her placing hot kisses into his side and groaned in appreciation. She moved up to kiss him on the lips and he tried to pour his passion into it, crushing her mouth with his. She trailed hot kisses down his jaw line and neck, tracing her way down his chest to his stomach. When she had reached just below his belly button Severus grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back to him gently.

"Don't start something unless you intend to finish it," he growled lowly.

Her clear blue eyes were dark, and he found himself captivated by them. He never saw it coming, one of her hands reached down brushed against him lightly, teasing him. Severus growled and rolled over, straddling her. Her shirt was in his way and he tugged at it impatiently, Amanda obligingly pulled it off, taking her bra with it. He kissed her breast appreciatively, giving them his full attention for a few moments. A tugging at his pants made him smile.

"Impatient, are we?"

She tugged harder, succeeding in leaving him only his underwear. He kicked them off and then grabbed her wrists, holding them to her sides and leaning into her, his breath in her ear.

"Don't move," he whispered.

She shivered when his breath brushed her neck and he allowed himself to linger, letting his breath wash over her skin in hot waves. Then he kissed her, moving down her neck slowly and taking his time. Her hands wrapped around his neck, entwining in his hair and he caught her, moving them back to her sides and leaning back to her ear.

"What did I say?" he let his breathe trickle down her spine and pressed into her, making sure she knew what she was missing out on while he had to remind her not to move, like a misbehaving child.

"Say it," he said, torturing her by being so close and yet not satisfying her.

She nodded wildly, her breath coming out in short gasps. He chuckled, it was good enough, he was having trouble breathing himself. He messaged her breasts with his hands and then moved down until he got to the waist of her pants. These he ripped off quickly.

Her hips bucked against his hand as he touched her, messaging her outer thighs, her inner thighs, touching her everywhere except the place where she needed it. Her hands clenched the sheet desperately.

"Severus…" she moaned, "Please," there was desperation in her eyes, and it took away all will to make her wait, make her want and call out for him. He wasted no more time and took her, making her gasp in pleasure.

Here, however, he took his time again, sending them both to the edge again and again before finally pushing them over and releasing. Beneath him Amanda was breathing hard, her eyes closed.

"Look at me," he said softly.

Her eyes met his and for a moment he was both terrified and overjoyed, for in her eyes was something that he had never really seen cast his way before, love. It was a dangerous thing, he would only hurt her. But that was washed away when she moved, breaking eye contact. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled her head into his shoulder, a perfect fit. Severus rolled over and held her to him; both of them curled into the other, and let the simple beauty of it all wash over him.

The feel of her skin, the smell of her, her eyes, her voice, his name cascading from her lips, things he was no longer sure he could live without. He felt her heart beat and breathing slow as she drifted off to sleep, content and safe in his arms. Deciding a few more hours couldn't hurt he followed her into peaceful slumber.

Amanda woke up alone. The blankets were splayed out around her and a sheet had been drawn up to her shoulders, she wrapped it around herself and stood up, wondering where Severus was. She heard the water running and smiled, of course, he was taking a shower before class, she felt rather foolish for think he would just leave her alone, especially since it was his room, after all.

Almost in desperate need of the bathroom herself, Amanda walked towards the door, intending to wait until he was done. The door opened almost as soon as she had reached it and Severus stepped out, shirtless. He moved politely out of the way when he saw her but Amanda had other plans. She stood up on tip toe, still holding the sheet around herself, and gave him a quick kiss, before whispering "good morning," and turning to go to the bathroom. Severus caught her around the waist and spun her around, lifting her up and pinning her to the wall. Amanda wrapped her legs around him and arched her back to escape the cold stone. Once again Severus claimed possession of her lips, sending warmth flooding through her.

Despite his heat she shivered, making him draw back and look at her. She looked radiant and her bright eyes were positively glowing. But she was shivering; the sheet she had wrapped around herself had fallen to the ground when he had picked her up. Severus moved them away from the wall and placed her back on her feet but didn't let her go.

"Good morning," he whispered, not looking away from her sparkling eyes.

She blushed slightly and moved closer to him, using his body as a means to hide her own. Severus chuckled.

"You're shy _now_?" She just blushed again and looked away. Severus closed his eyes, "go on then."

She gave him a quick peck on the lips and scampered off to the bathroom. He rolled his eyes once he heard the door close and smiled to himself, looking for his shirt. He heard the sounds of a shower start up and cursed when he remembered he'd left his shirt in the bathroom.

Severus picked another one and waited patiently for her to return before he had to leave. It was well past the time he would have normally reported to Dumbledore, but he couldn't bring himself to regret his actions, Amanda felt so right.

She came out wearing his shirt, and only his shirt. It dwarfed her, reaching down to her knees, and the sleeves were rolled up, her hair was a wild tangle around her head, having just been towel dried. The whole effect made her seem small and innocent, things he was not. She also looked half asleep, probably considering she didn't get to sleep until the moon went down and only got a few hours in before waking up to deal with his 'problem,' not that she hadn't seemed to enjoy it.

"If it's all the same to you," she said, "I'm going back to your bed. Someone kept me up all morning." She stressed the word 'some,' sticking her tongue out at him playfully. Severus was there in an instant, his fingers grabbing her tongue before she could pull it back into her mouth. "Aths noth thair," she said, or tried to, he actually wasn't sure what she was trying to say.

"I can think of a better use for that," he murmured.

Amanda blushed scarlet and swatted him away, diving onto the bed and hiding under the covers. Severus laughed heartily and sat on the edge of the bed, finding her and pulling her up so that her head was on the pillow. He tucked the blankets around her and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep some more, I have to give Dumbledore my report. I will leave breakfast early to come and get you for your classes, alright?" She nodded sleepily and he left, closing the door softly behind him.

Though serious when he gave his report to Dumbledore, Severus couldn't keep his mind off of Amanda. Images of her kept popping into his head, images of her asleep in his arms, of her stepping out of the shower in his shirt, her wrapped only in a sheet, without the sheet… Throughout breakfast Severus wanted nothing more then to just be back in his room, with her, but it wouldn't do for them both to be absent from breakfast, bad enough that they had both missed dinner the night before.

Severus did leave early, finding her already awake and dressed in her own clothes. Her hair was down and dried, cascading in gentle waves down her back while she brushed out some of the front bits. Seeing that she was having trouble reaching the back he glided over, taking the brush from her hands and running it through her hair gently.

Amanda looked up in surprise, she'd been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed him walk in. His expression was intense but not unkind, focused completely on the hair he was brushing. Amanda found herself fighting off two urges, the urge to giggle at the sour Potions Master brushing out her hair and the urge to glomp him for being so sensitive and caring. It was the moments like this that she really missed, the moments where he was almost completely opposite of the self he showed to other people. She waited until he was done before standing up and wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him gently. He held her to him and kissed her forehead.

"Well, aren't you nice this morning?"

"Just wait," he murmured, smirking into her ear.

Amanda laughed and moved away, deftly braiding her hair. They left soon after, separating quickly for their respective classes.

Though they left early enough for their classes Amanda was late for the beginning of hers anyways. Professor Umbridge had cornered her, standing tall in all her short toad-faced glory. The women was still a good head shorter than Amanda.

"Excuse me, Professor McGonagall," she said, smiling sweetly, "I was wondering if I could have a word."

"As long as it is a short word, I really don't condone being late for class," Amanda replied, trying not to sound rude.

"Of course not," Umbridge said, the smile never faltering. "It's just that I was concerned for the welfare of Professor Snape, he was absent from dinner last night, and he didn't appear to look that well at breakfast. I thought that perhaps you might know where he was since you were also absent from both meals. The two of you seem rather close."

Amanda narrowed her eyes, seething.

"I spent the majority of last night in the hospital wing, I had a small accident." She smiled fakely, trying to look sheepish before becoming serious and staring the small woman down. "Professor Snape and I are old colleagues, we went to school together and I believe he tolerates me more then others because I try not to pry into his business. As to where he was last night, I suggest you ask the Headmaster or Professor Snape himself. Now, if you'll excuse me, we both have classes that we are now tardy to."

She turned and walked off, trying not to look angry or in too much of a hurry to get away. By the time she reached her class, however, Amanda was seething.

"You all already know what you are doing today," she said briskly, slamming the doors closed behind her. "I don't know why you haven't started."

She stalked up to her desk. Someone in the room muttered quietly, it sounded something like, 'looks like she's the one that needs the cheering charm.' Amanda turned around, looking deadly.

"If I thought, Mr. Dent," she said lowly, "that you were capable of completing the charm without sending your partner into a fit of tears; I would gladly allow you attempt to cheer me up. But as it is… Detention, Mr. Dent, tonight, you will be writing me a paper about tact in Mr. Filch's office."

Amanda looked around and saw that the rest of the class was still looking concerned and not really focusing on their work.

"Anyone who doesn't leave this classroom smiling will also be in detention, get to work. Now."

They started focusing on their work and Amanda calmed down enough to watch and correct them, paying a little extra care to make sure that she complimented a few of them. Once they had left Amanda allowed herself a small sip from the cauldron of Cheering Solution.

The Cheering Solution lasted Amanda all the way into her seventh hour class, making her feel bright and bubbly. But when it wore off she was left feeling even sourer then before, her head was pounding and every movement sent waves of dizziness running through her. Amanda decided that skipping dinner wouldn't be a bad idea and escaped to her rooms for a good long sleep.

But Amanda was not to get a good long sleep that night. Nightmares plagued her at every turn, leaving her screaming into the night until she was able to wake herself, covered in sweat and breathless. She got up and wrapped her silken black robe around herself, deciding that the best thing for her was a walk.

Amanda wandered the halls aimlessly, periodically stopping to talk to a passing ghost. The halls were dark and eerie, but it was nothing that she hadn't gotten used to as a student, the darkness of Hogwarts halls was more of a welcome to her then anything else. It calmed her, slightly.

Stepping around a corner Amanda collided with something, nearly making her fall down. She distinctly heard an 'oomph' and a 'shhh' before she recovered and looked around, seeing no one. Amanda narrowed her eyes and pulled out her wand,

"Accio cloak," she muttered.

There was a ripple in the air and she lunged for it, felt cloth, and pulled. Two very stricken looking boys stared back at her, Ron and Harry.

"Potter! Weasley!" she growled, "What is the meaning of this?"

"We- ah- we were just…" Potter trailed off, looking desperate.

"Detention, for the next week," she growled, "My Filch's office at seven o'clock. And fifty points from Gryffindor."

The boys nodded mutely and started to walk back down the hallway, looking both surprised and horrified. Amanda was struck by a sudden thought.

"Potter!" she called, motioning for him to come back. "I'll make a deal with you; I'll give you back your cloak, if you'll let me see the map for a moment."

Harry looked surprised.

"What for?"

"That is not part of the deal I have offered."

Harry sighed and pulled out the old piece of parchment that was actually the map of Hogwarts. Amanda scanned it quickly, searching for one person in particular. There! Pacing his rooms still at this late hour was Severus, Amanda grinned, glad he was still awake. She handed Potter back the map and the cloak and reminded them both sternly to go to bed before marching swiftly down the hall.

"Blimey," she heard Ron whisper, "but she does look good in that robe!"

Amanda laughed loudly enough for him to hear, knowing that no one was around to hear it but them. She could only imagine the look on his face.

Amanda approached the door to Severus's door slowly. Now that she was no longer focused on the two delinquents her head ache had reappeared and she was shaking slightly from the after images of her dream. She raised her hand to knock and hesitated, what if he didn't want to see her, her coming to him for comfort was certainly not something that he would be very pleased about. After a moment of deliberation Amanda knocked anyways, waiting tensely for him to open the door.

It didn't take long, he threw open the door with a bang, glaring down at her fiercely until he noticed her shaking. His gaze softened, barley.

"Come in," he said, opening the door wide enough for her to fit through.

Amanda didn't really know why she had wanted to see him; it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, so she stood by the couch while he closed the door. Severus approached from behind and turned her around, one arm around her waist and the other cupping her cheek while he inspected her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, her voice sounding fake even to her. Why was it that lying to Severus was so hard? He fixed her with a look.

"Then why are you here?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my favorite Potions Master?" Severus didn't buy it; he continued staring at her while she tried not to fidget until she eventually caved.

"I don't know why I came down here," she said quietly. "I couldn't sleep and I couldn't just sit in my room by myself."

"You need to at least try to sleep." Amanda cringed at the thought of her nightmares returning again this night. "You look awful," he added.

"Thanks," she said dryly, "that is exactly what every girl wants to hear. Besides, shouldn't you be sleeping?" He flinched; it seemed he'd been having nightmares as well. Amanda grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers.

"Come on," she said, "how about we both get some rest?" Severus followed her obediently into his bedroom, leaving her only for a moment so he could change. When he returned Amanda was waiting for him, already curled up under the blankets, her robe hanging from the back of his chair.

Severus slid under the covers and then rolled on top of her, straddling her and holding her arms down. Amanda felt his lips against her own and leaned forward, more then willing to get lost in his kiss. He pulled away, just a hair's breadth too far for her to reach with him still holding her down.

"Are you going to tell me the real reason you're down here now?" He said, his breath tickling her neck. "And where you were during dinner?" Realizing his game, Amanda sighed and turned away.

"I felt dizzy and had a headache so I skipped dinner. Then I had a nightmare and couldn't sleep."

"And you came here because?" he prompted.

Amanda sighed again, annoyed. Why couldn't he just figure out that he gave her comfort without having to analyze every little detail? Her head was pounding again and she scowled. With a surprising amount of strength Amanda pushed him off her and sat up, still scowling.

"Must you over analyze everything? I came down here to be with you," she said, pushing him away. "If you would think, for only a moment, you would notice that I obviously care a very great deal about you and so maybe it's just possible that you actually make me feel better when I'm upset." For a brief moment a tiny amount of shock broke through Severus's carefully blank eyes before he shoved it back and pushed Amanda back into a laying position and lay beside her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"Was that so hard to admit?" he asked, teasing her.

A 'humph' escaped Amanda's lips and she turned away from him. Severus just rested his head on her shoulder, placing small kisses down her neck and back. Amanda wriggled against him, fighting very hard not to laugh or give into his tricks.

Severus won. Amanda twisted around until she was facing him and kissed him soundly on the lips, earning a mocking look; he had known she would give in. Severus rolled over onto his back and pulled Amanda with him. He could feel her heart beat in her chest and closed his eyes, basking in her warmth. She sighed and curled more comfortably into his side, placing one hand right over his heart.

"Good night, Severus," she mumbled.

He kissed her fingers and placed them back over his heart.

"Good night, Amy"

It wasn't long before they were both swept away to the gentle rhythm of each others heart beats and quiet breathing, each more then content to stay in the others arms for an eternity.


	31. Fight! Fight! Fight!

As the first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, drew nearer the tension in the school skyrocketed. The fact that the Quidditch cup had not been held in so long added to the growing excitement considerably. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were taking a lively interest in the upcoming game, for they would, of course, be playing both teams over the coming year; and the Heads of House of competing teams, though they tried to disguise it under a decent pretense of sportsmanship, were determined to see their team's victory. Amanda walked in just in time to catch Professor McGonagall abstain from giving her students homework in the week leading up to the match.

"I think you've got enough to be getting on with at the moment," she said loftily, giving a side glance in Harry and Ron's direction. "I've become accustomed to seeing the Quidditch Cup in my study, boys, and I really don't want to have to hand it over to Professor Snape, so use the extra time to practice, won't you?" Amanda walked in as the Professor's students rushed out, trying, and failing, to hide a smile behind her hair.

"Hoping for a Gryffindor win, are we?" she asked, eyeing her mother deviously.

"I don't know what you are talking about," the older woman said stiffly, "I just didn't want anyone to feel overworked."

Amanda chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry about you're reputation of impartialness, I just came down to pick your brain about what Dumbledore wants for Christmas." Professor McGonagall sniffed and looked away sheepishly.

"I honestly have no idea at the moment; I was planning to pick your brain, or his, later on tonight." Amanda sighed dramatically.

"Ah well, I guess I'll figure it out later." She stood up and walked to the door, throwing her mother a last mischievous glance before walking out the door. "Good luck with your newest homework policy."

Snape was no less partisan: He had booked the Quidditch pitch for Slytherin practice so often that the Gryffindors had difficulty getting on it to play. He was also turning a deaf ear to the many reports of Slytherin attempts to hex Gryffindor players in the corridors. When Alicia Spinet turned up in the hospital wing with her eye-brows growing so thick and fast that the obscured her vision and obstructed her mouth, Snape insisted that she must have attempted a hair-thickening charm on herself and refused to listen to the fourteen eyewitnesses who insisted that they had seen the Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, hit her from behind with a jinx while she worked in the library.

Amanda found herself having to watch her classes very carefully; the students kept trying to attack each other with various Charms when they thought she wasn't looking. She had to admit, it was amazing how much harm they could do with a simple Levitating Charm. But it only took one day of lessons before she had both Professors storming into her classroom, demanding explanation for their students having detention so close to the forthcoming match; the Slytherin and Gryffindor Heads of House had never been so united.

"I will say this one more time," Amanda said, speaking slowly and staring both Professors down. "If a student misbehaves in my class there will be repercussions, I don't care if there _is_ a Quidditch match coming up, I don't even care if someone is dieing, _I will not tolerate fighting in my class_! You'll notice that none of them have detention with me the day before, or the night of the Quidditch match."

Both Professors continued to glare, Professor McGonagall's mouth set in a tight line and Severus's eyes blazing.

Amanda rolled her eyes and smirked slightly. "You know, maybe this is a good thing," she said thoughtfully, "I don't think I've ever seen the two of you in such agreement with each other."

Severus and Minerva looked at each other disdainfully and huffed before they both attempted to walk out of the room with what dignity they could muster. Amanda tried not to chuckle as she walked them leave.

It wasn't that she didn't care about the upcoming match, she was just as interested in the outcome as any of them, she just didn't think there was ever a good reason for students to attack each other, and she most definitely would not accept it in her classroom.

The morning of the match dawned bright and clear, excellent weather for the first game of the season, especially considering how fast it had gotten cold over the past week. The ceiling over the Great Hall turned pearly gray, the mountains became quite covered in snow, and the temperature dropped so much that students took to wearing their dragon hide gloves in the corridors between classes. Amanda, having spent the past several years in a much warmer climate, kept her classroom nice and toasty, and enchanted her cloak to radiate heat.

The manner in which she chose to keep her room warm was rather shocking to most students, as Seamus Finnegan so eloquently pointed out.

"Bloody hell! She's set the floor on fire!"

He was half right, bright flashes of fire in every color imaginable were streaming around _inside_ the stones of the floor, ceiling and walls, making the room dance with color and radiate with warmth.

"That's wicked, mate," said Ron, after Hermione had forcefully dragged them to their seats. Professor McGonagall, the younger, walked in, smiling slightly and ushering people to their seats before closing the door.

"Thank you, for that evaluation, Mr. Weasley," she said, "but I'm afraid it is a charm that you will not be learning from me. Not this year, anyways, I will be teaching it to my Seventh years only."

There was an outbreak of disgruntled murmuring at her words and Amanda couldn't help but smile, it was a rather cool looking charm, she'd used it herself as a prank one year: The whole of the sixth years at the school had gathered together and enchanted every stone in every hallway, classroom and dungeon to flash brilliant colors at the people outside, someone had even gone so far as to add words to the fire, leaving many a student to stare at the fire and try to read what it said rather then trying to get to their classrooms in time.

But even the cheery look of Amanda's classroom did little to dampen the tension of the match that afternoon and she briefly wondered what it would be like before the last match of the season. Neither Professor McGonagall nor Professor Snape had had much to say to her the last few days, or rather, nothing they would say out loud, they were both still angry at her for giving members of their team detention.

When it came time for the school to file down to the stands Amanda was more then happy that it would be over soon, she was getting tired of short conversations at the dinner table.

Amanda climbed the stands to the teachers' box and plopped down beside Severus, her mother taking the seat to her left. She pulled her cloak up around her and shivered fiercely, stifling a yawn. Severus gave her a look that suggested he thought she was insane.

"Don't look at me like that," she grumbled. "You spend eleven years in a nice warm climate where all you may possible need in the winter is a scarf and then try coming back here, you would be cold to!"

Severus chuckled quietly and leaned in so that only she would hear.

"I came prepared for that," he said, slipping a small bundle into her hands. Amanda grinned and wrapped the green and black scarf around her neck, gleefully basking in the warmth that spread over her ears and neck. She gave him a soft smile, awed yet again that he could be so thoughtful.

"Thank you," she whispered, "I definitely needed it."

"Don't mention it. Really. However," he said, returning to his normal voice, "I do have a question. I over heard a student saying that I should 'do my classroom like yours.' Care to explain?"

Amanda tried not to laugh at the idea of Severus's dungeons brightly lit with swirling rainbows.

"I set the stones ablaze with color," she said, imitating the description a third year had given.

"I seem to remember the school undergoing a similar transformation," stated Professor McGonagall, having heard them talking. "Your handy work, I suppose?" Amanda gave her an indignant look.

"That was the work of the _entire_ of the sixth year student population, thank you very much."

"You enchanted the whole school?"

"Yes, you could even see it down in Hogsmeade, it was beautiful."

"Oh yes," said Professor McGonagall sternly. "It was so beautiful that Sibyl ran down from her tower, screaming that her walls were possessed and trying to tell her about her impending demise." Amanda snorted.

"I saw the expression on your face when she ran into the Great Hall, it was funny and you know it."

Their conversation was cut short as the commentators voice boomed out across the field.

"And its Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me-"

"JORDAN!" yelled Professor McGonagall loudly.

Amanda found herself sitting on the floor, in a mild shock from the loud outburst that had boomed out unexpectedly from beside her. Minerva sat back down and helped her daughter back to her seat.

"Sorry, I thought he was going to behave today."

Amanda just nodded and scooted back as far as she could without actually sitting on Severus. Lee Jordan's voice continued to echo around the stands.

"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest – and she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's – ouch – been hit from behind by a bludger from Crabbe… Montague catches the Quaffle, Montague heading back up the pitch and – nice Bludger there from George Weasley, that's a bludger to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnets away –"

The commentary rang out and Amanda strained her ears to hear above the crowd, all the yelling and booing and singing-

"–Dodges Warrington, avoids a bludger – close call, Alicia – and the crows is loving this, just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"

As Lee paused to listen to the song a swell of voices rose from the Slytherin side of the stand.

"Weasley cannot save a single thing,

He cannot block a single ring,

That's why Slytherins all sing:

Weasley is out king"

Amanda groaned and looked at Severus, wondering how he would feel about it. She knew she would probably be slightly embarrassed if her students were to act that way against a single person, but at the same time there wouldn't be much she could do, they were, after all, merely cheering on their team, even if it did require them to cheer for another teams mistakes. Severus's face was blank but he looked rather tense. She nudged him.

"Students," she said, doing a wonderful impersonation of Professor Umbridge, "can be so cruel to each other, and it just saddens me to think of all the damage they do to each others self esteems." She sniffled a little at the end for added effect. Severus's lips twitched and she continued, now using her own voice. "Aren't you glad _I_ was never that mean?"

"You?" he said sarcastically. "No, you were never mean to anyone."

She pushed his arm playfully.

"Too right! And don't you forget it!"

Severus rolled his eyes and they returned to the game, where Jordan was trying, unsuccessfully, to drown out the Slytherin song. They turned just in time to see Harry dive, Malfoy hot on his tail. Harry pulled out of the dive and the whistle was rung, the game was over. And then –

WHAM! Harry flipped over his broom and landed in the dirt, having been hit in the back with a bludger.

"Oh, now that's just bad sportsmanship," Amanda grumbled.

Madame Hooch went off to berate the offending beater and Amanda turned to the Professors on either side of her.

"I can't wait to see the two teams face off at the end of the year, once they've had more time to practice the game will be even better."

Professor McGonagall beamed and Severus just grumbled, exactly the response Amanda had expected, and then something caught her eye. Malfoy was saying something to Potter, and he and the Weasley twins did not look happy about it. She put a hand on her mothers shoulder to get her attention.

"I think you should make your way down to the pitch now," she said, pointing to the boys. And not a moment too soon.

Harry and George had launched themselves at Malfoy and were currently hitting every inch of him they could. Fred Weasley was struggling fiercely against the hands of three members of his own team so that he too could attack the young Slytherin. Amanda sighed.

"How do you think this will turn out?" she asked.

"The same way it always does, Potter and Weasley will both get a slap on the wrist and everything will go back to normal," Severus snarled.

He was wrong, both the Weasley twins and Potter got lifetime bans from flying, part of Educational Decree Number Twenty-five. Amanda was seriously starting to get annoyed with the amount of power the High Inquisitor was being allotted, soon the Ministry would end up giving her more power then Dumbledore, and then where would they be?

Down in the depths of the dungeons, where few ventured voluntarily, Severus was not worrying about Dolores Umbridge; instead, he was stuck behind his desk, grading papers with a vengeance. A slight flickering of the shadows caused him to look up, eyes narrowed. He would bet anything that something had just walked into the open door of his classroom. He saw another flicker of movement and he was instantly on his feet, wand lashing out in the direction of the shadow. A table zoomed forcefully into the wall and Severus distinctly heard a sneeze.

"Potter," he growled, who else would sneak into his dungeons at this time of night?

"Wrong," said a voice to his left. Severus instantly lashed out again, his arm connecting with something solid.

"Bloody hell, Severus! You are not supposed to kill the boy, even if I _am_ not him."

He squinted. Barley, just barely, he could see the outlines of a person, it was Amanda. His wand flicked out one more time and she became visible.

One hand was rubbing her cheek and she was leaning against the wall, shivering in the cold damp air of the dungeons.

"What, dare I ask, are you doing?"

"I wanted to see how far in I could get before you noticed," she smiled sheepishly, "apparently not very far."

She sneezed violently and her head cracked against the wall. Amanda winced and pulled her legs up, her hands going to massage the back of her head.

"What do you want?"

"A Pepper Up-" ACHOO! "-Potion, please."

She tried to smile at him but it was rather put off by the constant shivering and sneezing. He put his hands on her cheeks, she was burning up.

"Hhmm," Amanda sighed, "you have warm hands." She grabbed onto his wrists lightly and leaned into him. Without warning Severus leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, hoisting her up over his shoulder.

"Seeeeeeveruuus," she whined, now dangling upside down.

"Let's go get that potion," he said, completely ignoring her whining. Amanda's legs started to kick idly and she took up a chant,

"Pepper up Pepper up Pepper up…"

"What is _wrong_ with you?" he growled.

"You know, I'm not entirely sure why I'm so hyper, I should be freakishly tired, considering I stayed up all night reading – that wasn't the best idea ever – and then I couldn't take a nap, what with the Quidditch game and all, and now it's the full moon and I can't sleep." She said this whole list very quickly and it was rather hard to understand exactly what she was saying, Severus gave up.

"Do you have any idea how annoying you are?"

"Do you have any idea how big your butt is? I mean its right here, in my face!" Severus shifted slightly and Amanda yelped, he had pinched her butt!

"What do you know, yours is right in my face too," he said dryly.

Amanda grinned and reached out with both hands, it was time for revenge. The sudden jerk from Severus sent her sliding a bit down his back, so that her head was about level with his knees. She wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Don't you dare drop me!"

Severus just chuckled and walked back toward his office, potion in hand. Without so much as a warning he flipped her back over his shoulder and into his chair. Amanda reached out dizzily to grab his hand, but in her state she accidentally grabbed his nose instead. Severus glared at her, not that she noticed anyways.

"Sorry," she said, switching out his nose for his arm.

With one gulp she downed the potion and then winced as steam shot out of her ears. Still not speaking, Severus lifted her up once again, this time sitting down and placing her in the seat just in front of him, between his legs.

"In return for your little… distraction, why don't you help me finish these papers?"

Amanda nodded sleepily and they got to work, but she couldn't concentrate. The letters swam and twisted before her eyes, and she couldn't seem to focus enough to get through a sentence, her mind kept drifting between Severus and Umbridge.

She was glad of his warm chest at her back, and his steadying arm around her waist, he really could be very sensitive when he was in a good mood. When Umbridge was in a good mood, however, that just boded ill for everyone involved. If only Amanda could figure out exactly what she planned to do next, she would feel a lot better about it.

_Maybe a quick peek into her mind…_

NO! That would be wrong, even against someone who was interfering with the school.

_But what if she plans to take over, there's no doubt that the Ministry would be happy about it._

_Carlisle? _He would know, he always knew what she should do.

**I am here,** His voice sounded as clear as if he was sitting right next to her. It always creeped her out a bit how easy it was to hear him, even when he could be hundreds of miles away in the forest.

_If I peek into her mind, how wrong would that be?_

**If you rationalize this one, how easy will it be for you to rationalize any other mind you come across?**

_You didn't protest when I said I was going to be delving into Voldemorts mind._

**You would have done it anyways.**

_He has done the same to countless others!_

**Then you have stooped to his level, does that bother you?** Inwardly Amanda flinched.

_Yes, _she answered, feeling very small. She felt lower then Voldemort, even. At least his victims had a small chance of fighting back, the minds she entered wouldn't even be aware of her presence. Carlisle picked up on her thoughts immediately.

**The very fact that it **_**does**_** bother you shows that you have more compassion then him. Besides, he tortures the minds he enters, you were only trying to help.**

An arm on her shoulder wrenched Amanda from her thoughts, and she jumped, nearly pulling both her and Severus off the chair.

"Are you alright?" Severus looked both irritated and concerned. She blinked, Carlisle had already left, and turned to look at Severus.

"Yeah, sorry. I was having trouble concentrating and got distracted." Severus narrowed his eyes.

"Stay out of my head," he growled. Amanda was affronted, how dare he think that! She had never once invaded his mind! Okay, maybe once, but she didn't look at anything and it was only so that he wouldn't give away her cover.

Amanda twisted around until she was looking him in the eyes. Her eyes were blazing and she was no longer shaking because she was cold, now it was all fury.

"I have never," she said through clenched teeth, "invaded your privacy in such a way, something I thought you, of all people, would know I wouldn't do."

Severus looked rather taken aback by her harsh tone; it wasn't a voice she used very often.

"Then what were you doing?"

Amanda looked away, wondering if she should tell him the truth, it wouldn't make her story about not invaded his privacy seem any truer.

"I was debating over whether or not to invade someone else's mind," she said, giving him a sheepish smile. "I'm not," she added, realizing that Carlisle was right.

Severus just rolled his eyes and pulled her back around, resting his head on her shoulder and starting to grade the papers that she had been too distracted to grade. Amanda was glad; she still couldn't bring the letters into focus.

Watching Severus grade was like staring into a fire, it didn't matter what was going on around her so long as he kept writing. Time flew and before she knew it she was blinking her eyes back into focus because Severus had stopped writing. He had both hands around her waist and was leaning into her heavily, he must be tired. Amanda turned her head and gave him a small peck on the lips.

"Why don't you go to sleep? I'm going to wander around for a bit."

"Just don't get into any trouble," he said, "I am not going to come and get you."

"Just wait," she said, already halfway out the door. "One of these days I'm going to be rescuing you!"

Amanda made her way out of the castle and transformed into her wolf form. It felt good to run over the snow, a silver streak in the moonlight. She saw tracks appearing in the snow and let out a bark-like laugh, Potter and his friends. Deciding to ignore it for once she raced into the forest, streaming in and out of the trees as fast as she could. The branches whipped at her fur and plants swayed, nothing could slow her down – except an arrow landing feet in front of her.

She screeched to a stop and looked around, waiting for the source of the arrow to show itself. Several centaurs emerged from the trees around her; it looked almost as if the whole herd was out. She recognized Ash, now more grey then silver, and Firenze, looking much older and mature then the last time she had seen him. She also recognized Bane, who was not always as friendly as others. Her fur rippled and then flowed into skin and cloth.

"May I ask as to what the occasion is that I get an _arrow_ shot at me?" Bane lowered his bow and glared.

"Humans are no longer welcome in this forest, you have taken too much of it." Now she was confused.

"What do you mean, 'we have taken too much?'"

Firenze came to her rescue.

"Your people are restricting our territory; we already cannot enter nearly half of the forest. They say it does not belong to beings of 'lesser intelligence.'"

Amanda scoffed.

"Anyone who says that about a centaur clearly is a being of lesser intelligence himself, I'll talk to Dumbledore and see what he can do. But we are having much the same problem at the school; the Ministry is trying to control everything." Bane's glare only got darker but some of the other centaurs seemed to accept her explanation, for now.

Bane and the others left, with only Firenze sticking around. He approached her slowly and carefully.

"I would like to apologize on behalf of the others, it was Bane's idea to shot the arrow to get your attention."

"Think nothing of it, I was surprised but unharmed." She paused for a moment, "please, tell me, what has become of Gryis?"

Firenze looked to the stars for a moment before answering.

"I am afraid that he fell ill over the summer."

"I am very sorry to hear that, I always thought of him as a good friend of mine."

"And he thought the same; he always spoke very highly of you."

Amanda wasn't sure what else there was to say, she had not spoken with Firenze as often as Gryis, having only met him last year. Fortunately he spoke for her.

"You seem to have a great confidence in this Dumbledore."

"In truth, I don't know what he can do for you. As I said, the Ministry has been restricting us as well. I'm afraid that Dumbledore is currently backed into a corner. Though I have no doubt that by the end of the year the forest will be free again. The Ministry will come around."

"I sincerely hope so," he said gravely.

When the young centaur spoke it almost sounded as if he was trying too hard to be older then he was, and it sent a pang of sadness into her heart to think that he no longer had Gryis to guide him.

Amanda left soon after, walking back up to the castle slowly. She caught sight of Professor Umbridge and a flood of anger shot through her, it may not be her fault that Gryis was gone but it was certainly her fault that the centaurs were angry. Fang was tied outside and she paused to scratch behind his ears, overhearing the voice of Umbridge and Hagrid from inside.

"There were three sets of footprints in the snow leading from the castle doors to your cabin," said Umbridge sleekly.

Amanda grabbed onto Fangs collar and grinned impishly, deciding to crash the party and stepping through the back door without even knocking.

"Thanks for letting me borrow Fang for the evening, Hagrid," she said, giving him a pointed look, staring him directly in the eye that wasn't covered by a steak. "I took him for a walk around the pumpkin patch in the back, just like you asked."

From behind her back she flicked her wand, changing two of the footprints outside to look like paw prints. Hagrid stared at her as if she was crazy for a moment before catching on.

"Yeah, yeah, anytime."

Professor Umbridge did not look amused, and she glared at Fang with utter disdain. Fang did not seem to share her disgust; it was taking all the strength Amanda had to hold him back. Or perhaps he did share her disgust and was merely trying to dispose of the unwelcome intruder in his master's hut.

Professor Umbridge walked around, peeking into cupboards and inspecting every open space carefully, it was clear she didn't believe that Hagrid had been alone before. Amanda herself was wondering just where Potter and his friends were hiding. The toad faced Professor turned around after a few minutes of searching.

"What has happened to you? How did you sustain those injuries?

"Oh, I… had a bit of an accident," he said lamely.

"What sort of accident?"

"I-I tripped."

"You tripped," it was obvious she didn't believe him.

Still keeping a firm grip on Fang's collar Amanda made her way slowly to one of Hagrids overstuffed armchairs, hoping that if Potter was in her way he would get the hint and move before she got there. She sat down and pulled Fang up with her, wrapping both arms around him and crooning soothingly. She reached out slightly with her mind to soothe him and he relaxed instantly, laying his big head in her lap.

"Yeah, tha's right." Hagrid said, thinking as he went. "Over… over a friends broomstick. I don' fly, meself. Well, look at the size o' me, I don' reckon there's a broomstick that'd hold me. Friend o' mine breeds Abraxan horses, I dunno if you've ever seen 'em, big beasts, winged, yeh know, I've had a bit of a ride on one o' them an' it was-"

"Where have you been?" asked Umbridge, cooling cutting off Hagrid's babbling.

"Where've I…?"

"Been, yes," she said. "Term started more than two months ago. Another teacher has had to cover your classes. None of your colleagues has been able to give me any information as to your whereabouts. You left no address. Where have you been?"

There was a pause in which Hagrid stared at her with his newly uncovered eye. One could almost hear his brain working under his frightening mess of hair.

"I- I've been away for me health," he said.

"For your health," repeated Umbridge. Her eyes traveled over his discolored and swollen face; dragons blood from the steak dripping down his chin. "I see."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, "bit o'- o' fresh air, yeh know-"

"Yes, as game keeper fresh air must be so difficult to come by," said Umbridge sweetly. Amanda winced, Hagrid never had learned the art of keeping secrets, not that he didn't try.

"Well- change o' scene, yeh know-"

"Mountain scenery?" said Umbridge swiftly.

"Mountains?" Hagrid repeated, clearly thinking fast. "Nope, South of France fer me. Bit o' sun an'… an' sea." Amanda almost groaned, _Why don't you just go ahead and tell her who went with you? _She thought sarcastically.

"Really?" said Umbridge. "You don't have mush of a tan."

"Yeah… well… sensitive skin," he said, attempting an ingratiating smile. It really just showed off his two missing front teeth.

"I shall, of course, be informing the Minister of your late return."

"Righ'," said Hagrid, nodding.

"You out to know too that as High Inquisitor it is my unfortunate but necessary duty to inspect my fellow teachers. So I daresay we shall meet again soon enough." At that point Amanda couldn't help it, she let go of Fang and watched with a small smile as he pounced, knocking the diminutive woman over like cardboard and promptly sitting on her.

"Oh, I am sorry, Professor," said Amanda, sounding so overly concerned it was hardly believable. She got up slowly and pulled Fang away. "Bad dog," she said sardonically.

Professor Umbridge got up with a huff and tried to march smartly from the hut, an attempt to preserve what little dignity she had left.

After they were sure she was heading up to the castle Hagrid yawned and looked pointedly at his bed.

"Thank yeh fer yer help an' all, Amy, its good ter see yeh. But if yeh don' mind I think it's about time fer me to get to bed." Amanda nodded compliantly, the yawn was real, even if the reason he wanted her to leave wasn't.

"Of course, but I'm afraid I'll have to take Potter, Weasley and Granger with me." She could faintly hear gasps from the corner and saw Hagrid's face twist up in confusion. She stepped quickly forward and reached out, found the cloak, and pulled, uncovering the three shocked faces of Potter, Weasley, and Granger.

"How'd yeh know they was there?"

"They left foot prints in the snow, I heard them gasp, and this is just the kind of thing I've noticed Potter and his friends are apt to do." she said, listing the things off on her fingers. "By the way, all three of you will serve detention with me on Thursday."

"But Professor-" started Harry, but she held up a hand.

"I know you're here to visit Hagrid, otherwise I would be giving you a harsher punishment. Now put that cloak back on and start marching back up to the castle." She turned back to Hagrid, who still looked mildly confused.

"I am sorry to cut their visit with you short, but it is definitely past their bedtime." After a moment Hagrid laughed, and then pulled her into a hug.

"Yeh sound jus' like yer mum," he said, before releasing her.

Amanda smiled gently and left, following the footprints the three had made when they left. She tried not to catch up to them, she didn't want to answer any questions they might have about what she had been doing down there in the first place. She had nothing to hide really, she just didn't want to explain the reason she was still awake.


	32. Trouble in Paradise

December arrived, bringing with it an avalanche of work for the fifth through seventh years. Except in Amanda's classes, she made it a point not to give her students any homework. It didn't seem fair for them to have homework from every class at once. Her classes expressed their gratitude repeatedly; the Weasley twins even gave her a box of their products, some sort of fireworks. She'd laughed and stored them away for later use.

Dumbledore tried to convince her to use them at the end of the year, as a celebration of some sort. Amanda had to disagree with him.

"Where's the fun in that?" she asked, sitting comfortably in one of the large armchairs in front of his desk. She had enchanted it earlier to be even bigger, there was just something she loved about oversized furniture that she couldn't explain.

The room was half in darkness, the silvery instruments that normally whirred and puffed smoke eerily silent. Amanda was lounging in her silk black robe, a white tank top and shorts underneath, and little white slippers sitting on the floor in front of her. On the other side of his desk Dumbledore sat in a magnificently embroidered purple and gold dressing gown, over a bright white nightshirt. Fawkes rested on the arm of Amanda's chair.

"Setting off a mass amount of fireworks in front of the entire student population wouldn't be fun?" he inquired, blue eyes skeptical.

"Not nearly as fun as other things I could do, perhaps a few sparkling dragons over the dinner table would be appropriate…" she trailed off, lost in thought. Armando Dibbet, a previous Headmaster, chuckled from his portrait along the wall.

"I told you she was the prankster!"

Another portrait disagreed with him.

"Then why was her house often the butt of the prank?" he countered.

Now it was the sorting hat who spoke, calling down from the high shelf in which it spent most of its life.

"Amanda never was suited for Gryffindor, in my opinion, and I am never wrong."

"Then why did she do so well, hmm?" Nearly all the portraits were arguing now, Amanda smiled sheepishly at Dumbledore while they continued.

"And what would you have had her be then?"

"A Ravenclaw! She was smart, she belonged with us."

"She's crafty, sly, a pure blood, she should have been a Slytherin."

"But you forget that the only one concerned with blood is you, she should have been in Hufflepuff for her kind heart."

"She had too much talent for that!"

"Are you saying Hufflepuffs have no talent?"

"Certainly not! I'm just saying that she had too many qualities that one doesn't normally associate with Hufflepuff."

"Like a brain."

"Or a brave heart!"

"Oh, your one to talk, running away from a turkey –"

A soft knock on the door interrupted their argument and they immediately fell silent, quickly stretching out and closing their eyes to appear asleep. The door opened of its own accord and Professor McGonagall stepped in, shortly followed by Harry.

"Oh, it's you, Professor McGonagall… and…_ah_."

Amanda twisted around to see them better. Potter didn't look well at all, he was sweaty and pale. Beside him, the young Weasley, Ron, looked just as bad off. She rose and walked over to a small table, tying her robe more closely about her and pouring some tea.

"Professor Dumbledore, Potter has had… well, a nightmare," said Professor McGonagall. "He says…"

"It wasn't a nightmare," said Harry quickly. Professor McGonagall frowned at him.

"Very well, then, Potter, you tell the headmaster about it."

"I… well, I _was_ asleep…" said Harry, looking rather sheepish. "But it wasn't an ordinary dream… it was real… I saw it happen… Ron's dad- Mr. Weasley- has been attacked by a giant snake."

Amanda looked up sharply, desperately hoping that she'd heard wrong. During the silence that followed Amanda stepped forward, placing tea on Dumbledore's desk and handing a cup to her mother.

"Thank you," she murmured.

Amanda had to practically force the cup into Harry's hand but she stared him down until he took it.

"Here," she said, handing the last cup to Ron. "You need to relax."

"How did you see this?" Dumbledore asked quietly, not looking at Harry but at his interlaced fingers.

"Well… I don't know. Inside my head, I suppose-"

"You misunderstand me," said Dumbledore, still as calm as ever. "I mean… can you remember- er-"

_Er? _Amanda thought. _That really doesn't sound like Dumbledore, he must be rather distracted. _

"Where you were positioned as you watched this attack happen? Were you perhaps standing beside the victim, or else looking down on the scene from above?"

"I was the snake," Harry said. "I saw it all from the snake's point of view…."

No one said anything for a moment, then Dumbledore, now looking at Ron, said in a sharper voice, "Is Arthur seriously injured?"

"_Yes," _said Harry emphatically. Dumbledore stood up suddenly and addressed one of the old portraits on the wall, nearest to the ceiling.

"Everad?" he said sharply. "And you too, Dilys!"

A sallow-faced wizard with short, black bangs and an elderly witch with long silver ringlets in the frame beside him, both of whom seemed to be in the deepest of sleeps, opened their eyes immediately.

"You were listening?" said Dumbledore.

The wizard nodded, the witch said, "Naturally."

"The man has red hair and glasses," said Dumbledore. "Everad, you will need to raise the alarm, make sure he is found by the right people-"

Both nodded and moved out of their frames, leaving behind two empty frames; one now contained a dark curtain backdrop, the other a handsome leather armchair. Many of the other headmasters and mistresses were now peeking out under their eyelids to sneak glances at them all.

"Everad and Dilys were two of Hogwarts's most celebrated Heads," Dumbledore said, now sweeping around Harry, Ron, and Professor McGonagall and approaching the magnificent sleeping bird on his perch beside the door. "Their renown is such that both have portraits hanging in other important Wizarding institutions. As they are free to move between their own portraits they can tell us what may be happening elsewhere…"

"But Mr. Weasley could be anywhere!" said Harry. Amanda didn't agree, she would bet anything that Dumbledore knew exactly where Arthur was, and why.

"Pleases sit down, all four of you," said Dumbledore, as if Harry had not spoken. "Everad and Dilys may not be back for several minutes… Professor McGonagall, if you could draw up extra chairs…"

Amanda didn't even reach for hers; if Dumbledore wanted something from her then he would have said 'Amy.' Professor McGonagall pulled her wand from her dressing gown and waved it; three chairs appeared out of thin air, straight backed and wooden, quite unlike the comfortable chair that Amanda had previously been occupying. She pushed Ron down into it, feeling bad that out of all of them he probably knew the least about what was going on, and folding herself into his wooden chair.

Fawkes crooned softly at the boy before turning to Dumbledore with bright, dark eyes.

"We will need," said Dumbledore very quietly to the bird, "a warning."

There was a flash of fire and the phoenix had gone. Dumbledore swept down on one of the fragile silver instruments whose function they had never known and tapped it gently with his wand.

Amanda looked away, not really concerned with what he was doing, she wouldn't have understood anyways. Many of the portraits on the walls were staring openly at Harry, shutting their eyes hastily when the boy glanced their way. Harry looked awful, he was shaking and looked as if he might hurl. Ron looked as if all the blood in his body had bled out somewhere.

Amanda stood up, pulling Harry with her, and sat in the chair, between the two boys.

"Drink your tea," she said sternly. Ron raised a shaking glass to his lips, nearly dumping the tea on himself. Amanda helped him hold it up, murmuring soothingly the way she'd seen her own mother do. "You both need to relax; working yourselves up until your sick isn't going to help anybody. Ron, you're going to have to be calm enough to explain to your little sister that everything is going to be okay."

"But what if it's not?" Ron whispered, his voice come out more like a squeak. Amanda turned him to look at her.

"He will be fine, trust me. Your dads a lot stronger then most people give him credit for."

"And you," she said, turning to Harry. "You need to relax too."

"But it was me," he said.

"Yes, Harry, you gave the warning that has just saved his life."

"No," Harry whispered, "_I_ was the snake. _I_ attacked him."

"No Harry, the snake did that. You were just along for the ride. You felt everything that the snake felt because it wasn't a dream, because it was actually happening to someone else." Harry looked a little better and Amanda smiled warmly at him. "Now finish off your tea."

Ron leaned into her side and Amanda wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing his forehead and murmuring in what she hoped was a comfortingly tone. Harry leaned into her other side and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her side.

From a few chairs over Minerva smiled proudly, it was a beautiful thing, what Amanda had just accomplished. Several of the portraits shared her smile. Dumbledore straightened up and looked over at the trio, the three of them squished into the ridicules armchair that Amanda had conjured up, both Harry and Ron comforting themselves in her arms.

Their moment of peace was ruined by the return of a panting Everad.

"Dumbledore!"

"What news?" said Dumbledore at once.

"I yelled until someone came running," said the wizard, who was mopping his brow with the curtain behind him, "said I'd heard something moving down stairs- they weren't sure whether to believe me but went down to check- you know there are no portraits down there to watch from. Anyway, they carried him up a few minutes later. He doesn't look good, he's covered in blood, I ran along Efrida Cragg's portrait to get a goo view as they left-"

"Good," interrupted Amanda as Ron made a convulsive movement on her shoulder. "He's alive then."

"I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive, then-"

And moments later, the silver-ringletted witch had reappeared in her picture too: she sank, coughing, into her armchair and said, "Yes, they've taken him to St. Mungo's, Dumbledore…. They carried him past under my portrait…. He looks bad…"

"Thank you," said Dumbledore. He looked around at Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, I need you to go and wake the other Weasley children."

"Of course…. And Dumbledore – what about Molly?" said Professor McGonagall, pausing at the door. Dumbledore looked down at Amanda.

"Of course, Dumbledore," she said. Gently pushing the boys away, she stood up and turned to them, kneeling down to look them both in the eye. "Finish your tea, it will help." She went to the door.

"Amy," said Dumbledore, "after you've informed Molly, – though she may already know, that excellent clock of hers –" Amanda almost smiled at the thought of that clock. It didn't have numbers, just words that described where various family members were, it had things like "work," "home," and "mortal peril." One year they had almost broken it, Charlie and Bill had tried to add her to the clock and it had gone haywire, spinning around in circles rapidly until they'd removed her name.

"I'd appreciate it if you could track down the other Weasley children."

"Will you be needing me back?"

"I think the students will manage."

Amanda nodded and left, sweeping down hallways and passing sleeping portraits quickly and silently. She strode down onto the grounds and past Hagrids hut. Once outside the gates she Apparated in mid-stride, disappearing with a loud crack.

She reappeared just outside the Weasley house, fondly named The Burrow. It looked much the same as it had the last time that she'd been there, not that she'd really looked around much then. A rusty cauldron sat sideways on the lawn and a lopsided sign announced the location, The Burrow. At this time of night thee were no chickens scurrying around the yard and Amanda missed them.

A moment later the door was flung open and Mrs. Weasley bounced out in a tattered green dressing gown and wrapped in a large quilted blanket.

"Amy dear," she exclaimed, "what are you doing out here so late? And in only a thin robe like that! You'll catch your death, come on inside." Mrs. Weasley had wrapped a quilted arm around her and was propelling them both towards the house.

"Mrs. Weasley," she started, "have you looked at your clock recently?"

"Not at the moment dear, I've been too busy cleaning. Why do you ask?"

Amanda turned Molly around to face her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Arthur's been injured." Molly gasped and stepped back, sinking into a seat. "He's alive, but he's hurt pretty bad. They've got him in St. Mungo's now and they should be contacting you soon."

"But… how do you know… if they haven't contacted me yet?" Amanda smiled grimly.

"Harry had a dream; he saw it happen and told Dumbledore." She knelt down in front of Molly, taking her hands in her own. "Now, you must stay here until they contact you. I will go and find Bill and Charlie, my mother is getting your other children and they're going to be taken to Grimmuald Place."

"We're already here," said a voice from behind them. It was Bill, he was standing in the doorway, and he looked grim. "Charlie's still asleep, I'll go get him." Amanda stood up.

"I'll do it," she said quickly.

Charlie she could handle, he was her friend, she knew what he would do, but Mrs. Weasley wasn't someone that she could deal with. Bill took her place by Molly's side and she raced up the stairs, taking the first flight two at a time. As she approached Charlie's room Amanda slowed down, she didn't want to disturb him any sooner then absolutely necessary.

Amanda entered without knocking and slipped inside. Charlie was flopped in the middle of his bed, which was so large it took up most of the space in the room. She sat on the edge and touched his shoulder, trying to shake him awake.

"Charlie, wake up Charlie."

The long red head rolled over and opened his eyes slightly. He groaned, looking up at her blearily. His arms came up suddenly, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her over him. Charlie, still half asleep, rolled over until he was on top of her, his legs on either side on her hips.

"Charlie –"

His lips crashed down on hers, the second kiss he had stolen from her, and this time he wasn't even awake. One of his hands found its way into her robe and under her, lingering on her butt. He groaned again. Amanda put both hands on his chest and pushed as hard as she could, shoving them both off the bed.

They landed with an 'oomph' and Charlie snapped awake. He looked confused.

"Amy? What are you doing?" She rolled off of him and stood up, tightening her robe, once again, more securely about her.

"I'm getting groped by my best friend, what does it look like?" she said angrily.

"What? I – oh, look, I wasn't awake at the time, and I thought I was dreaming."

"So do you often dream about groping me?"

"I – no… I mean – look. How often do you think scantily clad women sit on my bed?"

"I am not scantily clad, thank you very much! I just didn't expect to go gallivanting cross country."

"Why are you here?" Amanda's expression instantly sobered.

"It's your dad, he's been injured."

"What… how?"

"He got bitten by a rather large snake, he's alive and at St. Mungo's. Any minute an owl will come to inform you all."

"Mum and Bill?"

"They're downstairs, I already told your mum and Bill was listening in."

Charlie got up and stepped silently from the room and down the hall. Amanda stood where he had left her, not really wanting to intrude on their family moment and yet not knowing what to do with herself. Charlie solved the problem a moment later by grabbing her hand and pulling her downstairs with him.

Mrs. Weasley was crying and Bill was attempting to comfort her, looking rather uncomfortable. Grabbing the quilted blanket off the floor Amanda sat down beside her, draping it over her shoulders and taking her into her arms. Molly collapsed on her, sobbing hysterically into her shoulder.

"Oh Molly, it'll be alright. You'll see he'll be fine."

"It's just…" she was taking huge breaths and sobbing in between words. "If Arthur and I… go… then who'll take care… of the… the kids? They'll be… all alone."

"Molly Weasley," Amanda said, her voice firm and commanding. "Do you honestly think that no one would take them in? I certainly would help, along with my mother, Dumbledore, Remus… even Severus would help… if there was no other alternative." Molly made a sort of strangled, choking laugh and Bill and Charlie gave her odd looks.

"Severus?" she choked out. Amanda fought back a smile.

"Yes, Severus. I know it's hard to tell, but he really is a good person. He wouldn't let your children suffer." Behind them the clock on the wall buzzed, and the hand with Arthur's name on it moved from _mortal peril_ to _hospital_.

"Molly! Look!" They all turned around and let out a collective sigh of relief. A minute later Molly let out a large screech as an owl swooped in. Amanda yelped and fell on the floor, dazed and in shock from the yelling in her ear.

"It's from the hospital," Bill said. "They say he's stable but they need to keep him for a while."

"Come on," said Amanda, standing up. "You lot go to the hospital. I'll go to Grimmuald Place and tell them what's going on."

"No dear, Arthur would love to see you."

"I'll wait Mrs. Weasley, it's no trouble, besides, I think it'll be better if it's just family that visits just now."

"Oh dear, you are family." Amanda smiled faintly and hugged Mrs. Weasley before stepping towards the fire. She took a deep breath; she hated traveling by floo, and threw the powder into the fireplace, shouting, "Number 12, Grimmuald Place."

The room spun and she vanished in a rush of emerald flames. Grates and fireplaces whirled by until finally she slowed and finally came to a stop, coughing, in the fireplace of Number 12.

Harry, Ron, the Weasley twins, Ginny and Sirius stared up at her with worried expressions.

"Your father is alive and your mum, Charlie and Bill are on their way to the hospital now." This didn't seem to make them feel any better; they all turned to look at the fire again, watching, waiting. Sirius just glared at her.

"Way to lighten the mood, Amy, though I must say that outfit is in rather poor taste." Amanda just glared and tightened her robe further around her waist, but Ron stood up and held out a hand, helping her from the fireplace.

"Thank you, Ron," she said, ruffling his hair a little. Amanda sat down on the couch and Ron joined her, laying his head on her shoulder for comfort. She wrapped her arm around him and ruffled his hair again. "Your mum should be here soon, she'll have more news."

A few minutes later Ginny joined them, wrapping her arms around Amanda's waist shyly and laying her head in her lap. Amanda smiled soothingly and looked around.

"Anyone else? This is a one time thing here people, make the most of it."

Fred attempted a smile at her light tone and the twins joined them on the couch, Fred taking Ginny's legs and laying them in his lap so that he, too, could lean on Amanda's shoulder. Amanda sighed and leaned back, it seemed she was becoming soft, first Ron and Harry, then Mrs. Weasley, and now the four youngest Weasley children and Harry. In this manner they all settled in to wait, it seemed to be the only thing they could do.

**Well, let me know what you guys are thinking. I probably won't have another chapter up until Sunday, we're moving so my computer will be in pieces until then.**


	33. Trip to Saint Mongos

The Weasley children, Amanda and Sirius sat in silence for what seemed to be forever, just staring blankly or watching candle wax melt and stream down the candle in little rivulets. At some point Sirius suggested that they all go to bed but the Weasley's disgusted faces made him back off.

Around four in the morning by Ron's watch the door opened, and Charlie and Mrs. Weasley came in. Molly looked down at them all piled on top of Amanda and smiled slightly.

"He's going to be alright," she said. "Amy, dear, you can go ahead and see him."

Amanda stood up after disentangling herself from the arms of the Weasley children. Fred made to stand up too, but Mrs. Weasley held up her hand.

"No Fred, just Amy, the rest of us will go see him later."

Fred looked confused and indignant.

"Why does she get to see him before even his family?"

"Because Amy had been part of this family since before you were born," said Charlie, sounding both tired and strained.

"No, it's alright. I can wait."

Amanda really didn't want to face Mr. Weasley; it just felt too much like she was intruding on their grief. But Mrs. Weasley was adamant, so she allowed Charlie to lead her back outside, where they promptly Apparated away.

Arthur seemed pleased to see her, for the short time he was awake, anyways. He beamed and waved her over. He thanked her profusely for taking care of his wife and telling the others about him. Amanda just tried to smile and listen to him talk until he fell asleep. Afterwards Charlie stood in the center of the room, looking rather tense.

"Charlie?" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Dumbledore finally told us where you were all summer," he had turned to face her. "Why would you do something so incredibly stupid?" Amanda was taken aback; Charlie's voice was cold and harsh. "When we heard where you'd been mum burst into tears."

"Charlie –"

"I don't want you participating anymore," he said firmly.

"Charlie, I can't not help out –"

"Yes you can. There was no reason to put you in a situation like that! You could easily have died! I will not see you on a hospital bed again." During his last statement he had grabbed a hold of her shoulders and was looking her straight in the eyes. "I've seen it once; I will not do it again."

"Charlie, I understand, really I do. But I cannot just sit back and watch my friends get killed while I do nothing!"

"What if you end up like dad? What if you die? You attract trouble like a magnet because you always put others first, and you can't keep doing that!"

"And what if you die? How do you think I will feel? Besides, you have so much more to live for. Your mum, your dad, can you imagine how your brothers would feel, how Ginny would take it?"

"They'd feel the same if you died. Please, Amanda, don't do that to us." Amanda sighed heavily.

"Charlie, I will not sit in the sidelines, but, I will not allow myself to be put into a situation like last time either. And I will be careful; I have no intention of being in a hospital any more then absolutely necessary."

Charlie sighed and looked away, knowing it was the best he was going to get. He sat down on a bench and pulled Amanda beside him. After a moment he leaned over and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face into her shoulder.

"I can't lose you," he whispered. Amada leaned back, Charlie still half laying on her, and embraced him.

"I'll be careful, don't worry so much."

It didn't take long for Charlie to drift into a peaceful slumber, his arms tight about her waist. But sleep eluded Amanda, even though she had been up the whole night before. She couldn't sleep, not with Charlie needing her comfort, and not with Mr. Weasley looking half dead on the hospital bed. All she could do was watch over them, them and the other two patients in the room. She was the only one awake.

Several hours passed and light filtered through the window, and still she couldn't sleep. One man, who was ling in the bed across from Mr. Weasley, had awoken, but he looked grumpy and she wasn't much in the mood to talk anyways.

Another hour passed and Mr. Weasley awoke, he looked rather startled to see her there.

"Have you been awake all night?" he exclaimed.

"Yes," she replied simply.

"Blimey, you must be bushed. Why didn't you get some sleep?"

Amanda just shrugged the best she could with Charlie on top of her. A moment later a nurse came bustling into the room, smiling brightly.

"I need to change the bandages now deary, so I'll have to close the curtain."

Again Amanda shrugged, not really caring what they did so long as she didn't have to get up, she ached all over and just wanted to find a nice bed to sleep in.

When the nurse left another one hurried in after her carrying a tray of food and a copy of The Daily Prophet. Amanda leaned back to wait again. She didn't have to wait long, just after Mr. Weasley had finished eating and taken out his Daily Prophet the doors swung open and a whole herd of people came in.

"Hello!" called Arthur, throwing the Prophet aside. "Charlie's still asleep and Amy looks like she wishes she was…" He was right, Amanda's head was propped against the wall and her eyes were glazed over to a point where it was highly possible she hadn't noticed them come in.

"How are you Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley, bending down to give him a kiss on the cheek and looking anxiously into his face.

"I'm absolutely fine," said Mr. Weasley brightly, holding out his good arm to give Ginny a hug. "If they could only take the bandages of, I'd be fit to go home."

"Why can't they take them off, Dad?" asked Fred.

"Well, I start bleeding like mad every time they try," said Mr. Weasley cheerfully, reaching for his wand and waving it so that six extra chairs filled the space around his bed. "It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snakes fangs that keep the wound open… They're sure they'll find the antidote though, they say they've had a lot worse. And in the meantime I just have to keep taking a blood replenishing potion every other hour."

Movement from a few feet away distracted him, Amanda was getting up. She carefully moved Charlie so that he was propped up by the chair and stood up, stretching her aching muscles.

"If nobody minds, I am going to try to find breakfast. I'll meet you all back here soon." Mrs. Weasley sprang up and engulfed her in a giant hug.

"Oh dear, you've been so wonderful through all of this: telling me and the boys, comforting Ron and the others multiple times, and staying up to watch over Arthur and Charlie."

"It's nothing, Mrs. Weasley," Amanda said, looking a little uncomfortable. Mrs. Weasley broke off and Amanda left, holding her robe close to her body and roaming the halls for the cafeteria. Eventually she found it and took as much time as humanly possible to enjoy a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, it was delicious, and also the first food she'd eaten for a while. She decided to eat another.

It was some time before Amanda made her way back to the ward Arthur was in, she hadn't really wanted to be part of the awkward conversation that was sure to take place. She managed to get back just in time, everyone was walking out, and Mrs. Weasley asked, "Does anyone know where Amy is, I think it's about time we left?"

"I'm here," she said simply, stepping up beside them all. Harry, and the other younger children looked grim, and she distinctly saw George stuffing something back into his pocket.

They took the train back to Grimmuald Place, not really talking much. Back at the house everyone split up. Most of the children went upstairs to sleep some more and Bill and Charlie left for work. Sirius was joyfully running around, putting up decorations and tidying up. Mrs. Weasley, having failed to get Amanda to accept more food, had busied herself in the kitchen, preparing the houses dinner.

Amanda wasn't sure what to do with herself, returning to Hogwarts would just give Umbridge the chance to attack her with questions. What she really wanted to do was to find a nice quiet room to curl up in, but she didn't know where everyone was sleeping and she didn't want to disturb anyone. Fortunately Mrs. Weasley solved this problem for her.

"Sirius," she called, "would you please show Amy to an empty room? I'm sure she could use the sleep." Sirius grumbled a bit but he led her upstairs anyways.

The room he picked out for her was a soft blue color, and a small bed took up the far wall. A large wardrobe stared out at the room from the left, and a mirror stood opposite it. It didn't look like anyone had ever used the room.

"This was the guest room, not that anyone ever used it."

"Thanks," she said, slipping past him and into the room.

Sirius looked at her for a moment with a sneer, as if he was going to say something. But the soft tone she had thanked him in took him by surprise and he let it drop.

"Do you want anyone to let you know when dinner is ready?" he asked instead.

"No, thank you," she said, walking slowly to the bed.

She was actually dreading falling asleep, whether she cleared her mind or not, the dreams would come. Sirius looked at her oddly for a few minutes and then left. Amanda pulled off her robe and kicked off her slippers, climbing under the soft blankets slowly. No matter how much she was dreading her nightmares her sleep deprived body still gave in quickly, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

The dreams did come. Amanda started off wandering around, looking for something, though she couldn't remember what. From out of no where a man lunged at her, grabbing her around the waist. His hot breath wafted over her and made her squirm, her heart racing. She could feel his hands roaming up and down her body. And then they weren't hands anymore, they were claws. The wolf-man leered up at her, snarling lowly. He roared and Amanda felt his claws rip through her stomach, she could feel the hot blood gushing out against her skin and she felt the cold stone as she collapsed. Her body convulsed violently as Amanda waited for unconsciousness to take her or for her to wake up. She didn't. The man was back; he loomed over her with a cold smile and reached out, ready to take her into his arms again. She screamed and thrashed about wildly, but he just kept coming.

And then she was awake. She was back in the soft blue room and Sirius was the one looming over her. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands gripping her shoulders, and he looked concerned.

"I was walking by and heard you shouting, are you okay?"

Amanda wasn't sure, she was sweaty and her stomach burned, she was having difficulties focusing on Sirius's face. She nodded and sat up, dragging herself off the bed. She put a hand to her stomach and then gasped. Her shirt was sticky with blood. Sirius sucked in breath and reached for her, pulling her arms away so he could see.

"Bandages would be rather helpful, don't you think?" Amanda said, trying not to show the panic in her voice. "Or you could just stare at it until I bleed to death." Sirius ran from the room, slipping on the polished floor in his socks.

Amanda pulled her shirt up gingerly. It wasn't too bad, she had reopened part of her scar, probably from all the thrashing she had been doing in her sleep. It had only opened a little in the middle, and there wasn't that much blood. She should be fine once she managed to bandage the wound.

Sirius returned a moment later and handed her the bandages. Amanda scowled and waited for him to leave, but he didn't.

"Well?" she said.

"If I leave I'm telling Molly," he said.

She scowled once again, there was no way she wanted Sirius to see her scar, but she didn't want to drag Mrs. Weasley into it either.

"Tattle-tale," she sneered, lifting her shirt once again.

Sirius eyes widened when he saw the scar that ran from just above her right hip to the left side of her rib cage, trailing all the way to the top, not that her shirt was high enough for him to see the end. A much smaller scar, barley visible, rested just above the center of her stomach. Amanda washed away the blood and wrapped the bandages around her waist quickly and efficiently, turning around to find Sirius still staring at her stomach.

"When did you get that?"

"You mean the big ugly one that makes me look like a freak?"

He nodded silently.

"It's the one I got from that pole that drove into my stomach, from when _you_ broke the Shrieking Shack."

There wasn't a lot of bite to her voice, she was too tired and he seemed genuinely concerned.

"You know that's not what I meant," he said, scowling.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I got it a few years ago, during winter break." Amanda made to walk past him but he was standing in front of the door.

"What happened?"

"I don't really want to talk about it right now," she said, slipping on her robe and attempting to shove past him, but he blocked the door.

"Move," she said, trying to slip past him again.

Sirius grabbed her, pushing her between him and the wall as she continued to struggle.

"Not until you tell me who did that to you," he said, still squishing her.

Amanda squeezed her eyes shut; she didn't like the feeling of being trapped again, or of a body pressed against hers. His arm was wrapped around her waist and she could feel his other hand on her back, keeping her still. She didn't know why Severus being so close didn't bother her, but Sirius wasn't Severus, and she was really starting to freak out.

"Let me go," she said quietly, wishing her wand wasn't still sitting on the nightstand.

"Not until you tell me what happened," he said, pushing her harder against the wall. Amanda suddenly lashed out, pushing him off her and clutching the robe around herself protectively. She was shaking and her eyes were wide as images of Fenrir standing over her flashed through her mind.

"Amy –" Sirius started, a look of concern on his face that was so out of character when he was looking at her.

"Fenrir decided he liked the way I looked so he kidnapped and tried to rape me," she said, sounding a little hysterical. "When I tried to escape he did this! Are you happy now? Because I know I definitely wanted to relive that!"

Amanda swept down the stairs, all the way to the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was still busy making them all dinner.

"Hello dear, is something wrong? You haven't even been gone an hour yet," she said, peering at Amanda over the large pot in front of her. Amanda grimaced; she hadn't even managed to sleep a whole hour before her nightmares had beaten her.

"No… I'm fine, I was just wondering if I could have a glass of water." After drinking her water there was really nothing left for her to do but go back upstairs and sleep, hopefully this time in peace. Unfortunately Sirius was waiting for her. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her around to face him.

"Amy, I'm sorry," he said.

"Go away, Sirius," she said, tired and aching.

"I mean it," he said, "I didn't think anyone could hurt you like that."

"So what, because we didn't get along and you tried to kill me I'm invincible?"

"Well," he said, a slight smile forming on his lips, "killing you never worked, did it?" Amanda closed her eyes, a soft smile gracing her tired face.

"To your undying shame."

Sirius pulled her to him, smothering her in a hug. Amanda tensed before hesitantly putting her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. They stayed like that for a while, until Amanda yawned, making Sirius laugh and ruin the moment.

"Go to bed," he said, laughing, "See if you can't get rid of those bags under your eyes."

"And what are you going to do about your wrinkles?" she asked sweetly.

Sirius just stuck his tongue out at her and walked out of the room. Just before closing the door he turned back to her.

"Let me know if you need anything," he said seriously, "I'm just down the hall."

Amanda nodded and he left, leaving her free to slip back into bed and into a dreamless sleep.

**Virtual cookies for everyone! I just got my computer back today and I'm so happy! Thank you all for your reviews, I'm hoping to break one hundred soon, so tell me what you all think.**

**To sci-fi-rocks, first off, thank you for telling me where Honduras was, everybody else just left me to look it up. Secondly, thank you for pointing out the flaws in my timeline, unfortunately I won't be able to fix them for awhile, so I hope you'll bare with me through them and the mistakes I'm sure to make in the future.**


	34. Friends! or not

The week leading up to Christmas was joyous. Sirius was running through the halls, loudly singing Christmas carols. They all spent most of their time putting up Christmas decorations, although Amanda, Fred and George kept sneaking off to work on the Skiving Snack Boxes.

The twins had popped into her bedroom one night to work on their products, unaware that it was now hers. Amanda had seen some of their products and they'd struck a deal: Amanda wouldn't tell Mrs. Weasley and they could continue using the room as long as Amanda got to look at the products. It worked out well for them, Amanda had a lot of ideas on how to fix some of the problems they'd had with the products.

Amanda and Sirius continued to tease each other like there was no tomorrow, but it was friendlier, more of a sibling kind of arguing.

By Christmas morning everyone was in a good mood. The tarnished chandeliers were hung with holly and gold and silver streamers; magical snow glittered in heaps over threadbare carpets; a great Christmas tree, obtained by Mundungus and decorated with live fairies, blocked Sirius's family tree from view; Amanda had enchanted a little Santa Clause to ride around on his enchanted broomstick, laughing and singing carols –Crookshanks kept trying to eat him, however, - and even the stuffed elf heads on the wall had been adorned with little Father Christmas hats and beards.

Amanda woke up to find a good stack of presents in front of her. She got up and pulled on a clean pair of shorts and a tank her mother had sent over. She had just finished pulling on her robe when a knock on the door startled her.

"Come in," she called. Fred and George entered, carrying a large box between them. They set it down on the floor.

"Wish we'd known you were awake –"

"We would have just Apparated –"

"Save all this trouble, climbing the stairs –"

"Probably ruined our backs, you know." Amanda just rolled her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked, eyeing the box apprehensively.

"Our products, of course,"

"Finest samples –"

"Everything we've made-"

"One or two of them still need a little work, mind you, –"

"But we labeled those."

Amanda laughed, they were a pair, she barley noticed when one stopped speaking and the other began, they were so alike.

"Well I got you something too," she said, reaching into the bag her mom had sent. She pulled out an old, worn looking notebook, with pages and pictures sticking out at various angles and writing covering both the front and back covers.

"It's the notebook I used in school, with almost ever prank we pulled written in it. We managed to get a few pictures of some of them going off too. I figured you could probably find some use for it."

Fred and George grabbed it, flipping through the pages hungrily.

"What's this about a swamp?"

"Oh, that one never worked, too many bugs," she explained, peering over their shoulders at the book.

"Is this the snowball fight?"

"We've heard a lot about this one, it's Charlie's favorite."

"Yeah, I like that one too," she said, chuckling fondly at the memory. "Now go on, I want to open my other presents."

They smiled, yelled "Merry Christmas" very loudly, and then vanished. She rolled her eyes and went back to her pile, feeling every bit the little kid on Christmas morning.

Amanda found books from her mother, Madame Maxime and Bill; she would enjoy those during the full moon. She got the usual sweater and box of sweats from Mrs. Weasley, the sweater was green with a little golden 'A' embroidered on one sleeve, and Sirius had been kind enough to give her a pair of socks. It was fitting because that's exactly what she had given him, only instead of the green and purple pair he had given her; his were bright red and yellow.

Madame Maxime had also sent her another gift, from the whole school. It was a small model of Beauxbatons, complete with grounds and little people waving at her from windows, doorways, and outside. She smiled at it, just watching the little people run around for a few minutes before setting it carefully aside.

Charlie had given her a little model dragon, not unlike the ones that had been used in the Triwizard Tournament. It was black and red, with long claws and spikes running down its back. She looked at it thoughtfully for a moment before setting the dragon on the top of a tower of her Beauxbatons model. Some of the little people screamed and ran inside. The dragon climbed to a taller tower and roared before taking wing and flying around the castle, swooping down but not attacking the people below. Amanda laughed and turned back to her small pile.

Matilda had sent her a painting of what looked to be her and Dobby, and on closer inspection there was a label that confirmed it. She got a box of Sugar Mice from Flitwick, one of which escaped under the door.

Dumbledore had sent her exactly what she'd asked for, a small vile containing some tears from Fawkes. She'd collected a few every time she'd gone to his study during her school years but had lost the vile somewhere in his office, she'd asked Dumbledore if he could find it. Amanda was glad to have it back; she might need it if a war broke out again.

Severus had sent her a cloak, with a note attached that said, 'so you can stop stealing mine!' Amanda just rolled her eyes. It was nice though, it was a dark velvety red, with a gold clasp. She would definitely be wearing it to the hospital later; she hadn't bothered to grab one before leaving Hogwarts.

The cloak had indeed been a good idea, as it was snowing when they got out of the car to race into the St. Mungo's entrance. She was pleased to find that it had a warming enchantment on it, so she was the only one who wasn't shivering violently when they walked in.

They found Mr. Weasley propped up in his bed with the remains of his turkey dinner in his lap and a rater sheepish expression on his face.

"Everything all right, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley, after they had handed over their presents.

"Fine, Fine," he said, a little too heartily. "You – er – haven't seen Healer Smethwyck, have you?"

"No," said Mrs. Weasley suspiciously. "Why?"

"Nothing, nothing. Well, everyone had a good day? What did you all get for Christmas? Oh, _Harry_- this is absolutely _wonderful _–"

As Mr. Weasley reached over to shake Harry's hand Mrs. Weasley peered under Arthur's shirt to look at his bandages.

"Arthur," she said, with a snap in her voice like a mousetrap, "you've had your bandages changed. Why have you had your bandages changed a day early, Arthur?"

"What?" said Mr. Weasley, looking a little frightened and pulling his bed covers up a little higher. "No, no – it's nothing – it's – I – Well – now don't get upset, Molly, but Augustus Pye had an idea… He's the trainee Healer, you know, lovely young chap and very interested in… um… complementary medicine… I mean, some of these old Muggle remedies… well, they're called stitches, Molly, and they work very well on – on Muggle wounds –"

Bill muttered something about a cup of tea and Amanda jumped up to follow him, followed shortly by Fred and George. They practically sprinted out, but they were still in time to hear Mrs. Weasley's next words.

"It sounds as though you've been trying to sew your skin back together," she said with a snort of laughter. The door swung close behind them and Ron, Harry and Hermione joined them, just in time to her Mrs. Weasley shriek, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?"

Amanda separated from the others, she didn't really want any tea, and just wandered around for a while. She passed people with extraordinary problems, and a few with smaller problems as well. One man ran past her with a large flounder growing out of his forehead, and another with a walnut shoved up his nose.

Turning a corner Amanda ran into someone, for once knocking them down instead of herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry, here, let me help you up." She reached down to help the woman and was instead engulfed in a huge. A voice from down the hallway called out, "Mom!"

Amanda looked, turning both her and the person holding onto her so that she could see. Neville Longbottom was sprinting down the hallway towards them. He stopped, panting, and looked at the two of them, Amanda still being squeezed tightly by the strange woman.

"Hello Neville," Amanda said sweetly, trying not to sound at all freaked out or rude.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I don't know what's got into her, she's never done that before."

"It's alright, I guess, I did knock her down."

"You what?" he exclaimed.

"It was an accident," she said defensively, "I don't normally go around pushing people to the ground on purpose, so you can stop looking at me that way."

The strange woman stood back and Amanda got a good look at her. She had a kind, round face, like Neville, and grey wispy hair that kind of floated around her head. She looked familiar.

"Alice?" The woman just kind of smiled happily into space.

"You know her?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, we used to share a dorm… Neville… what – why is she –" Neville kind of shuffled his feet, he looked miserable.

"Death Eaters, they tortured them until…" Amanda sighed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, then, Neville, let's get her back to her room."

Neville nodded slowly and started to turn, but Alice moved faster, she grabbed Amanda's hand and Neville's and then pushed them together, pushing Neville's hand into hers. When she was done they were holding hands and she patted their shoulders happily, looking at Amanda expectantly.

"Of course," Amanda said, trying to force back the tears that were working their way to her eyes. They started off once again, Amanda holding both Neville's and his mom's hands while Neville led. They were greeted at the door by a very large witch wearing a long green dress, a moth-eaten fox fur, and a pointed hat with a stuffed vulture on top.

"Friend of yours, Neville?" she said, bearing down on them. "Oh, and you've found Alice. Run along dear, off to bed." Alice shuffled past them, humming to herself until she was out of earshot.

"This is Professor McGonagall, the Charms Professor."

"Oh, you must be the one Neville almost crushed with a bookcase. I hope you weren't too injured. He's got the ability, that much is for sure, but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say."

Amanda narrowed her eyes.

"I happen to like having Neville in my class, I always know he's listening," she said, smiling down at him. "Besides, all the kids who can just flick their wands and the spell works don't actually learn, they just do it and forget. I think Neville will make a fine wizard." Neville smiled back shyly. "Now, if the two of you will excuse me, it was nice meeting you, Mrs. Longbottom. And Neville, I shall see you when term resumes. Good day."

The next several days in Grimmuald Place were depressing, to say the least. Now that Christmas was over and Sirius was going to be stuck in the house all by himself again he was sulking, often spending hours at a time locked away in his room with the hippogriff, Buckbeak. Amanda was trying desperately not to lose her temper with him, he kept saying rude things to her but she felt bad for him, locked away all alone, unable to even enjoy a walk in the fresh air. Besides, after he had seemed genuinely concerned on her behalf she couldn't find it in her to hate him.

Then, on the very last day before the end of the holidays, Snape visited. Amanda was going down to the kitchen to get a drink when she heard voices in the kitchen. She looked in to see Harry, Sirius and Severus. They were squaring each other up, Sirius looking livid, Snape calculating. Their wands inches from each other.

"Sirius!" said Harry loudly, but Sirius appeared not to hear him. Amanda fingered her own wand, wondering whether or not to interfere.

"I've warned you _Snivellus_," said Sirius, his face barley a foot from Snape's.

That word alone was almost enough to ruin any good feelings Amanda had gained for the man, but she kept her mouth shut.

"I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better –"

"Oh, but why don't you tell him so?" whispered Snape. "Or are you afraid he might not listen to a man who has been hiding in his mother's house for the past six months very seriously?"

"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?"

"Speaking of dogs," said Snape softly, "did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you the last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform… gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn't it?" Sirius raised his wand.

"NO!" Harry yelled, vaulting over the table and trying to get in between them, "Sirius, don't –"

"Are you calling me a coward?" roared Black, trying to push Harry out of the way, but Harry would not budge.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am," said Snape.

Sirius roared once again and raised his wand, Snape; black eyes glinting tightened his grip.

"Impedimenta!" Sirius and Severus were both knocked back, stumbling a bit. They both turned to glare at her, but Harry looked rather relieved. Sirius's glare turned into a rather twisted smile.

"Just like old times, eh, Snivilius?"

"Shut up, Sirius," she said, not giving Snape a chance to speak, "this may be your house but you are acting like a spoiled child."

Sirius just kept smiling.

"Better be glad Amy's around to protect you, _Snivilius_."

That did it.

"Are you so blinded, Black?" she shrieked. "Who's supposed to protect Harry, or can you not see your _godchild_ standing between the two of you?"

Sirius looked down at Harry, who was still standing between them, as if he had just realized he was there.

"You are his godfather," she said, in a tight, cold voice. "And yet here you stand, ready to cast a spell that you know very well will only end up hurting Harry."

The kitchen door opened and the entire Weasley family, plus Hermione, came inside, all looking very happy, with Mr. Weasley walking proudly in their midst.

"Cured!" he announced brightly to the kitchen at large. "Completely cured!"

He and all the other Weasley's froze on the spot, gazing at the scene in front of them, which was also suspended in mid-action, both Sirius and Snape looking toward the door with their wands pointed at each other, and Amanda's wand still raised between them, holding Harry next to her.

"Merlin's beard," said Mr. Weasley, the smile sliding off his face, "what's going on here?"

Both Sirius and Severus lowered their wands, Amanda following after both of them had done so, but still keeping her hand on Harry's shoulder. Snape pocketed his wand, turned on his heel, and swept back across the kitchen, passing the Weasley's and Amanda without comment. At the door he looked back.

"Six o' clock Monday evening, Potter." He was gone. Sirius glared after him, his wand at his side.

"But what's been going on?" asked Mr. Weasley again.

"Nothing, Arthur," said Sirius, who was breathing heavily as though he had just run a long distance. "Just a friendly little chat between three old school friends… and you can stop looking at me like that, Amy, I would never hurt him." 'Him' meaning Harry, Sirius would hurt Severus in a heartbeat.

"Really, Black?" she said coldly. "I think we would both agree that you often go too far." With that Amanda turned on her heel and walked out, pausing only to give Mr. Weasley a hug and whisper congratulations in his ear before stepping outside so she could return to the school.

**Alright! Now that I've gotten the Holidays out of the way I can move back to making the story move forward, because I'm willing to bet the chapters before this were pretty boring.**

**As always, more reviews make me want to post more chapters. And I can't remember if I've said this before, but I don't own anything you guys recognize in here.**


	35. I finished the Filler!

The first night back at the school Amanda found herself heading down to Severus's office, she needed to talk to him. When she knocked he answered with his customary bark of, 'Enter!' Severus was bent low over a cauldron, stirring it slowly. He looked up, saw her, and scowled, turning back to his potion. Amanda approached slowly.

"I wanted to apologize," she said, when she was close enough. "It wasn't my place to interfere back there, I just didn't want to see Potter get hurt."

"Potter?" he sneered, still not looking up at her.

"He's still a kid; someone has to look out for him."

"He is hardly a child, though I wouldn't go so far as to call him an adult."

"He's shorter then me."

"A novelty in itself, so few are."

"Ha. Ha. You're so _funny_," she said, teeth positively dripping with sarcasm. Severus grunted and looked up at her, finally meeting her gaze.

"I actually have a lot of work to do, so if that's all…" Amanda sighed dramatically.

"Woe onto me, I've been kicked out by the grumpy Potions Master," she said, still feigning horror while she made her way to the door. "Whatever am I to do with myself now? Oh wait, I know, I'm going to go terrorize the student population."

"And how are you going to do that?" Severus asked, not looking her way anymore.

"I recommend earplugs for breakfast tomorrow," she called back, giving little away. With that said, Amanda skipped away humming a light tune and smiling wickedly; she kept an eye out for Peeves, he would love her plan.

The next morning Severus had not taken Amanda's advice of earplugs, though he was prepared with a spell that would cast a bubble of silence around himself. It turned out to be a good idea.

They were peacefully eating at the head table when suddenly students started to scream, loudly. From every door leading into the great hall swarms of large white mice were pouring in, squeaking loudly, though nowhere near as loud as the screaming students. Several students got up and started running for the doors, jumping over the mice. Most just jumped onto their tables or benches, and a few tried to attack the mice by stomping around.

A mouse scurried up the table and Professor Umbridge let out a shriek and whipped out her wand, but instead of vanishing, the rodent only got larger. Amanda calmly reached out, ignoring the screams of her fellow colleagues and students, and grabbed the offending rodent, which now about the size of her foot. She turned to Severus calmly.

"Heads or tails?"

Severus looked down, they were sugar mice.

"Heads," he said simply.

He'd had too much experience with Amanda to think that he could get away with not taking a piece. Amanda promptly broke the sugar mouse in half, handing him the head with two paws still attached. Severus broke of one of the legs and put it in his mouth, keeping it from wriggling by holding it down with his tongue. Amanda broke of the tail and sucked on the end, the rest dangling from her lips and waving madly around. She looked like a large cat, eyeing the hysterical students and teachers around her with a calm expression.

Looking around, Severus noticed that several students had caught on and were diving onto the mice, eating them ravenously. Several others, however, had not caught on, and now there were mice ranging from the size of small dogs to small horses running around. He thought he saw Fred Weasley riding on one such overgrown rodent.

Amanda was humming merrily to herself while munching on her mouse, watching the show. She stopped humming though when Umbridge stood up and suddenly shot a spout of water from her wand, hitting a mouse and then watching it dissolve with a wicked smile on her face. Amanda glared down at the pile of water and sugar that was all that remained of her plot. Most of the students groaned, now that the shock had worn off they had actually started to have fun.

Amanda grumbled and bit down on the last leg of her mouse rather forcefully, glaring at the puddles of sugar and water that Umbridge was leaving on the floor.

Amanda spent the majority of her classes showing her students how to animate inanimate objects; it was advanced magic and would take them awhile. She only taught it to her sixth and seventh years, a choice that would have left her listening to the groaning of all her other students if she hadn't threatened to kick them all out if she heard one more student complain.

Breakfast the next morning was rather grim, especially compared to the excitement she had unleashed the day before. But it was more interesting to Amanda than the day before. As soon as she sat down Severus handed her a paper. There, on the front page, were ten faces staring up at her, many of whom she recognized from her school days. The headline said Mass Breakout from Azkaban, Ministry Fears Black Is 'Rallying Point' For Old Death Eaters. She snorted a little at the bit about Black, the Ministry was grasping at straws with that one.

Down the table her mother and Dumbledore were speaking urgently, and Professor Sprout had the Prophet propped up against a ketchup bottle and was reading it so intently that she did not notice the steady drip of egg from her spoon into her lap. A few seats down, Professor Umbridge was tucking into a bowl of porridge, scowling and glancing in her mother and Dumbledore's directions every few minutes.

Below, at the student's tables, however, it was a completely different story: students were still eating and laughing merrily; unaware of the danger they would soon be in. Only a few students, scattered around the whole hall appeared to have seen the news, those that had were grouped together, heads down and murmuring anxiously.

Amanda's eyes were drawn to one picture in particular, that of Bellatrix Lestrange, who managed to look both intelligent and insane all at once in her picture. Amanda flipped the page bearing her once friends laughing face over, tossing the paper carelessly aside.

"Looks like the whole gang's getting back together, doesn't it?" Severus merely grunted and Amanda became lost in her thoughts about what this would mean.

The next day it seemed to be all anybody could talk about; word had finally spread to the rest of the student population. Many who's family's had been victims of one or more of Azkaban's escapee's were now turning to Dumbledore, accepting his story of how the prisoners escaped over the Prophet's.

It was common now for students to pass teachers speaking hurriedly in harsh whispers, only to break off when the students had approached. It was the only way they could talk, Umbridge had appeared with another decree: Educational Decree Number Twenty-Six, which expressly forbid teachers from speaking to their students about anything unrelated to their subject.

Amanda felt this was directed mostly at her, especially when Professor Umbridge walked into the staffroom and specifically read it to her. Amanda stopped showing her students defensive spells soon after, not that they really needed them from her anymore, she'd heard of their Defense Club.

If anyone thought that this latest breakout, which happened right under Fudge's nose, would dampen Umbridge's spirits, they were dead wrong. Instead it seemed to only fuel her quest to have the whole school under her control, or at least fire somebody soon. And it was quickly looking like a race over whether it would be Hagrid, Trelawney, or Amanda.

Amanda wasn't worried, Umbridge didn't have a good reason to fire her yet, all she'd done was annoy the woman, and besides, she hadn't even been put on probation yet. Hagrid and Trelawney, however… she was worried for them.

Neville, like Umbridge, also seemed to be flourishing. He worked harder then anyone else in her class and she couldn't help but slip him a defensive book, she was positive that he would be able to figure the spells out easily with his new determination.

In their off time Severus complained about having to teach Harry Occlumency, something he thought the boy completely incapable of doing. Amanda would just smile through his rant and then pull him into another topic of discussion, something that he became increasingly grateful for.

Amanda's nightmares were getting worse though, and she found herself making more and more excuses to sleep in Severus's room for the night, not that she didn't enjoy doing that, it was just that if Umbridge were to notice then she would never let them live it down. It was just the kind of thing she would use to get rid of Amanda.

In this way January passed into February, and the weather started to warm again. People took to the slight rise of temperature readily, using any excuse to get outside and avoid Umbridge. One day, near the end of February, Amanda noticed that even the owls seemed to be more energetic, or perhaps there were just more of them that morning.

Hordes of them were swooping down towards Harry and his friends, all of whom were looking rather exited. Amanda watched Umbridge approach them and excused herself from the table, her curiosity getting the better of her.

As she approached she heard Umbridge say sweetly, "What's going on here?"

Harry looked up at her, his hands full of letters. Several students were watching the scene avidly, and Amanda was still approaching slowly, still several yards away.

"Why have you got all these letters, Mr. Potter?" Umbridge asked slowly.

"Is that a crime now?" said Fred. "Getting mail?"

"Be careful, Mr. Weasley, or I shall have to put you in detention," said Umbridge. "Well Mr. Potter?" Harry hesitated for a moment and then shrugged.

"People have written to me because I gave an interview about what happened last June."

"An interview?" repeated Umbridge, her voice sounding strained. "What do you mean?"

"I mean a reporter asked me questions and I answered them," said Harry. "Here–" He threw a copy of The Quibbler at Umbridge, whose face had turned an ugly, patchy violet color.

"When did you do this?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Last Hogsmeade weekend," said Harry.

"There will be no more Hogsmeade weekends for you, Mr. Potter. How you dare… how you could… I have tried again and again to teach you not to tell lie. The message, apparently, has not sunk in. Fifty points from Gryffindor and another week's worth of detentions."

She stalked away, the eyes of many students following her. Amanda stepped up in her place.

"Good morning, Potter, Granger, Weasley's," she said, inclining her head to each of them. "Might I borrow that?" she asked, motioning towards the edition of The Quibbler. Hermione grabbed it and thrust it into her hands.

"Thank you Granger," she said, walking away and looking at the magazine. "And fifty points, I believe, for you promptness and generosity."

She heard them laugh and cheer behind her and smiled wanly, things were only going to get worse now.

Amanda stepped up to the head table and made a copy of the magazine, plopping it down on the table between Dumbledore and her mother.

"I think," she said, smiling faintly, "that I am going to write an apology to Rita Skeeter, for calling her a no-talent cow, she's really outdone herself this time."

By mid-morning enormous signs had been posted, bearing Education Decree Number Twenty-seven, which stated that all students found with the magazine The Quibbler would be expelled immediately. Amanda took the posters at their word and enlarged the interview, posting it on the board in her classroom.

When her students came in she simply said, "Do ignore that, I just thought it would add a nice decorative look to the room." It wasn't long after her second class that Umbridge barged in, looking furious.

"How dare –"

"I will thank you not to barge into my classroom," Amanda said sharply, looking down at Umbridge with a disapproving glare. "I am obviously teaching at the moment, perhaps we can discuss whatever it is you want after class."

Umbridge's face was a splotchy looking violet color, and she was shaking from head to foot. One balled fist lifted and unclenched, pointing to the enlarged poster bearing Harry's face and an article next to it.

"Oh, that?" Amanda said, looking at it casually. "I thought it added a splash of color to the room." Umbridge drew herself up to her full height, not that it made much difference.

"Education Decree Number twenty-six, clearly states –"

"That any student found in possession of the magazine The Quibbler will be expelled, yes."

"Did you not understand?" Umbridge said, now returning to her normal, falsely sweet voice.

"Of course I did," Amanda said, shrugging slightly. "It specifically said any _student_, I am not a student."

Umbridge stormed out of the room, students snickering as she left. Before the class was out all the bulletins had been changed: the word 'students' had been crossed out and replaced by 'persons,' and the words 'or fired' had been added to the end.

Amanda had had to get rid of her poster. It didn't seem to matter though; Umbridge had ensured that every student would want to read it if only to find out why the article had been banned. Meanwhile Umbridge was stalking the school, stopping students at random and demanding that they turn out their pockets. But the students of Hogwarts were several steps ahead of her. The pages carrying Harry's interview had been bewitched to resemble extracts from textbooks if anyone but themselves read it, or else wiped magically blank until they wanted to read it again. Soon everyone in the school seemed to have read it.

The teachers were finding their own ways of showing their feelings. Professor Sprout, she'd been told, had given Gryffindor twenty points when Harry had passed her a watering can. Professor Flitwick had sent her a box of Sugar mice to pass on to him. And students had talked excitedly about Professor Trelawney breaking down and telling Harry that he was not going to die, but live to a ripe old age, become Minister of Magic, and have twelve children.

This was perhaps the last straw for Trelawney, Professor Umbridge had positively seethed after that, but the next day she was happier then Amanda had seen her in a long time. And then she wasn't at dinner.

A scream echoed from outside the great hall. Students looked around, as if searching for the source before they started pushing out of the hall to see what all the commotion was about. Both Professor McGonagalls pushed their way to the front, trying to keep as many of the students back as possible. They stopped when they realized what the source of the horrendous scream had been.

Professor Trelawney was standing in the middle of the entrance hall with her wand in one hand and an empty bottle of sherry in the other, looking utterly mad. Her hair was sticking up on end, her glasses were lopsided so that one eye was magnified more than the other; her innumerable shawls and scarves were trailing haphazardly from her shoulders, giving her the impression of coming apart at the seams. Two large trunks lay on the floor beside her, one of them upside down; it looked very much as though it had been thrown down the stairs after her. Professor Trelawney was staring, apparently terrified, at Dolores Umbridge.

"No!" she shrieked. "NO! This cannot be happening… It cannot… I refuse to accept it!" Amanda glared, and beside her Minerva looked as though she might be sick.

"You didn't realize this was coming?" said the high girlish voice of Umbridge, sounding callously amused. "Incapable though you are of predicting even tomorrow's weather, you must surely have realized that your pitiful performance during my inspections, and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable you would be sacked?"

"You c-can't!" howled Professor Trelawney, tears streaming down her face, "you c-can't sack me! I've b-been here sixteen years! H-Hogwarts is m-my h-home!"

"It was your home," said Professor Umbridge, and Amanda was disgusted to see the enjoyment on her toad-like face as Trelawney sank, sobbing uncontrollably, onto one of her trunks, "until an hour ago, when the Minister of Magic countersigned the order for your dismissal. Now kindly remove yourself from this hall. You are embarrassing us."

Amanda broke off, moving students out of her way to get to Trelawney. She heard footsteps and was surprised to see her mother right behind her, she nodded and Amanda smiled grimly, they marched up to Trelawney and flanked her. Amanda pulled out a large handkerchief from her robes and started dabbing at the older woman's cheeks, wiping away her tears while her mother whispered encouraging words.

"There, there, Sibyll… Calm down…"

"Blow your nose on this, please."

"…It's not as bad as you think, now… You are not going to have to leave Hogwarts…" Amanda looked up at her, surely Dumbledore wouldn't kick the woman out, but wasn't it a little early to make any promises, Dolores might already have that covered.

"Oh really, Professor McGonagall?" said Umbridge in a deadly voice, taking a few steps forward. "And your authority for that statement is…?"

"That would be mine," said a deep voice.

Amanda briefly thought that Dumbledore definitely knew how to make an entrance. He stood in front of the large oak doors that lead in from the grounds, leaving them wide open to the misty grounds. He walked forward, the doors still wide open, until he was standing beside them.

"Yours, Dumbledore?" said Umbridge, with an unpleasant laugh. "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here" – she pulled a parchment scroll from within her robes- "an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister of Magic. Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation, and sack any teacher she – that is to say I – feel is not performing up to standard required by the Ministry of Magic. I have dismissed her."

"You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them from the castle. I am afraid," he went on, with a little bow, "that the power to do that still resides with the headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at Hogwarts." At this Trelawney gave a little wild laugh.

"No – no. I'll g-go, Dumbledore! I sh-shall l-leave Hogwarts and s-seek my fortune elsewhere –"

"No," said Dumbledore sharply. "It is my wish that you remain, Sibyll. Might I ask you to escort Sibyll back upstairs, Professor McGonagall?"

"Of course," said Minerva. "Up you get, Sibyll…"

Professor Sprout hurried out of the crowd to take Sibyll's other arm and together they guided her up the stairs and past Umbridge. Madame Pomfrey scurried after them, her wand held out in front of her; she said, "Locomotor trunks!" and the luggage rose up into the air and proceeded up the stairs, Madame Pomfrey right behind them.

Amanda moved to follow them but Dumbledore gave her the tiniest shake of the head and she stopped, waiting. Umbridge was still standing at the foot of the stair, glaring at Dumbledore.

"And what," she said in a whisper that carried to the whole hall, "are you planning to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "You see, I have already found us a new Divination teacher, and he will prefer lodgings on the ground floor."

"You've found –?" said Umbridge shrilly. "You've found? Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Twenty-two –"

"– the Ministry," said Amanda, cutting her off smoothly and smiling pleasantly, "has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if – and only if – the headmaster is unable to find one." Umbridge glared.

"Do you always learn rules word for word?"

"Yes," Amanda said simply, and it was true, if you didn't know the rules word for word then how would you find loop-holes?

"And I," said Dumbledore, "am happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?" He turned to face the doors, through which night mist was now drifting eerily. Amanda caught the sounds of hooves and those nearest to the doors hastily moved back, some of them tripping in their haste to clear a path for the newcomer.

"Firenze," Amanda said, mildly surprised.

"Correct," said Dumbledore happily to a thunderstruck Umbridge. "This is Firenze; I think you will find him suitable."

"We will see," said Umbridge, before storming off Dumbledore turned to them.

"Professor McGonagall, as I believe you and Firenze are already acquainted, might I ask you to get him settled in?"

"Of course," she said, bowing her head a little and smiling. "Come along, Firenze."

Amanda led him past the marble staircase and into the hall leading opposite the great hall, to classroom eleven. It wasn't a regular classroom so it had a slightly neglected feeling to it, like that of a broom closet or a warehouse. Amanda wrinkled her nose at the dusty air and pulled out her wand.

"So, Firenze, how would you like your room to look?"

"I'm afraid I am not familiar with the concept of a 'room,'" he said, looking around wearily, "I am too used to the forest." Amanda thought for a moment before pulling her sleeves back a little.

"I think we can make that work," she said, smiling faintly.

After several hours Amanda collapsed, not onto the hard stone floor, but onto the lush moss and grasses that covered the bottom of the forest. Trees grew from the moss, their leafy branches fanned across the ceiling and windows, so that during the day the room would be filled with soft shafts of dappled green light. Now, however, the ceiling shone and twinkled with the stars of the night sky and was lit only by the soft glow of the moon, not yet full in the sky.

"What do you think?" she asked, resting on a log. Firenze looked around appreciatively, inspecting nearly every tree and fallen log.

"Will they grow?" he asked finally.

"They should," she said, "I'm not sure if they'll have to be watered, however. Something we may want to look into." Firenze turned back to her, his bright blue eyes blank.

"It is satisfactory," he said, bowing his head slightly, "I thank you."

"But it is not home, is it? Would I be incorrect if I assumed that the herd banished you for helping Dumbledore?"

"You are most perceptive for a human." Amanda sighed and stood up, inclining her head to him as a sign of respect.

"I must leave, we both have classes' tomorrow, and I, for one, could do with a good night's rest. Sleep well, Firenze."

"And you, Professor McGonagall."

"Amy, if you wouldn't mind, or Amanda."

"As you wish, Amy."

**Ok, so I realize most of that was pretty boring, but I have to go through it or else the later stuff won't make sense. **

**Thank you Naflower05, LaughingAngelsGibberish, sci-fi-rocks, and Neeny16, who were the only ones who reviewed yesterday. And Remus is in the story, just not that much…**

**Also, I know there isn't much to comment about from the last couple of chapters, but please let me know if there's something you'd like to happen in the story, I'm kind of at a loss at the moment.**


	36. Byebye

Weeks passed and Umbridge managed to sit in on so many of Amanda's classes that she began to wonder who was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, not that anyone really learned anything in that class nowadays anyways, but someone had to be watching the students during that time.

The students were having a blast, Umbridge tried to fight Professor McGonagall every step but Amanda just remained calm and spoke to her in the quiet, deadly voice of someone who knows that you are going to suffer horribly in the next few minutes, and that they will be the one inflicting the pain. The only thing Umbridge didn't fight with her about was when she gave detentions to Gryffindors, which seemed to be the only thing that pleased her.

It was during one such detention that an owl swooped in from one of the open windows, with an official looking letter in its beak. The few students that were in the room stared at her while she opened it, but she didn't bother telling them to get back to work. Professor McGonagall scowled as she read the letter, before standing up and saying, "Go back to you dormitory's, tonight's detention is over," and walked out, her dark blue robes swishing behind her.

Amanda swept down the halls, an irritated scowl on her face. She skipped up the steps to Dumbledore's office and knocked, bouncing on her feet impatiently. A voice called for her to enter and she did, pushing open the great oak doors with ease.

The office was filled with people. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, the tips of his long fingers pressed together. Professor McGonagall stood tensely beside him, her lips set in a thin line. Fudge, the Minister of Magic, was rocking on the balls of his feet near the fire, looking pleased. A wizard she knew as Kinsley and another she didn't know were flanking the door, looking very much like guards. Percy Weasley hovered near the wall, looking excited and holding a quill and parchment in his hands, apparently more then happy to take notes.

The portraits were not feigning sleep as they normally did, instead Amanda saw them alert and grim faced, periodically popping into each other's frames to whisper urgently.

"Would anyone care to explain what is going on?" Amanda asked, after a moment of terse silence. Fudge looked at her.

"You'll see, just wait," he said, with the air of someone expecting something very grand to take place. Amanda walked forward until she was standing beside her mother, who leaned over to say tersely, "It was Umbridge who requested you be here, she said she wanted _you_ especially to see this."

"What _is_ this?" Amanda whispered back, just as urgently.

She didn't have time to answer. The door was pushed open unexpectedly, and Harry was shoved inside, followed by and immensely pleased looking Umbridge. Fudge had a look of vicious satisfaction on his wry face.

"Well," he said. "Well, well, well…"

"He was heading back to Gryffindor Tower," said Umbridge, with the same callous pleasure she'd had when sacking Trelawney. "The Malfoy boy cornered him"

"Did he, did he?" said Fudge appreciatively. "I must remember to tell Lucius. Well, Potter… I expect you know why you are here?" Beside her, Amanda saw Dumbledore's head shake a fraction of an inch to each side.

"Yeh – no."

"I beg your pardon?"

"No," said Harry, firmly.

"You _don't_ know why you are here?"

"No, I don't."

"So you have no idea," said Fudge in a voice positively sagging with sarcasm, "why Professor Umbridge has brought you to this office? You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?"

"School rules?" said Harry. "No."

"Or Ministry Decrees?" amended Fudge angrily.

"Not that I'm aware of," said Harry blandly. Fudge's blood pressure was rising, a tick seemed to have developed on his neck and he had turned a sort of dark purple color.

"So it's news to you, is it," said Fudge, his voice thick with anger, "that an illegal student organization has been discovered within this school?"

"Yes, it is," said Harry, tying to look innocent.

"I think, Minister," said Umbridge silkily, "we might make better progress if I fetch our informant."

"Yes, yes, do," said Fudge, nodding, and he glanced at Dumbledore. "There's nothing like a good witness, is there, Dumbledore?"

"Nothing at all, Cornelius," said Dumbledore gravely, inclining his head.

There was a wait of several minutes, in which nobody said anything to each other, and then the door burst open. Umbridge had a curly haired girl by the shoulders, who was hiding her face in her hands.

"Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened," said Umbridge, patting the girl on the back, "it's quite all right, now. You have done the right thing. The minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been. Marietta's mother, Minister," she added, looking up at Fudge, "is Madame Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation. Floo Network office – she's been helping us police Hogwarts fires, you know."

"Jolly good, jolly good!" said Fudge heartily. "Like mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to – galloping gargoyles!"

As Marietta raised her head, Fudge leapt backward in shock, nearly landing himself in the fire. Marietta gave a wail and pulled the neck of her robes right up to her eyes, but not before the whole room had seen that her whole face had been horribly disfigured by small purple pustules that had formed the word "SNEAK."

"Never mind the spots now, dear," said Umbridge impatiently, "just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister –" But Marietta gave a muffled wail and shook her head.

"Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him," she snapped. She hitched her sickly smile onto her face and said, "Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately at that point this hex came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me anymore."

"Well now," said Fudge. "It was very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?"

But Marietta would not speak. She merely shook her head again, eyes wide.

"Haven't we got a counter jinx for this? So she can speak freely?"

"I have not yet managed to find one," Umbridge admitted grudgingly. "But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, I can take up the story from her. You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade –"

"And what is your evidence for that?" cut in Minerva.

"I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time, He was heavily bandaged at the time, but his hearing was quite unimpaired," said Umbridge smugly. "He heard every word Potter said and hastened straight to the school to report to me –"

"Oh, so that's why he wasn't prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets!" said Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrow. "What an interesting insight into our justice system!"

"Blatant corruption!" roared the portrait of the red nosed wizard behind Dumbledore's desk. "The Ministry did not cut deals with petty criminals in my day, no sir, they did not!"

"Thank you, Fortescue, that will do," said Dumbledore softly.

"The purpose of Potter's meeting with these students," continued Professor Umbridge, "was to persuade them to join an illegal society, who's aim was to learn spells and curses the Ministry had decided are inappropriate for school-age –"

"Actually, you're wrong," said Amanda, quietly but clearly, she thought she saw Dumbledore's lips twitch into the tiniest of smiles, but it was gone before she could confirm.

"Oho!" said Fudge, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet again. "Yes, let's hear the latest cock-and-bull story designed to get Potter out of trouble! Got your staff coming up with them now, have you, Dumbledore? Well go on, my girl, do go on – Willy Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was it Potter's identical twin in the Hog's Head that day? Or is it the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life, and a couple of invisible dementors?" Percy let out a hearty laugh.

"Oh, very good, Minister, very good!"

Amanda's fingers twitched, she ached to give the boy a good slap, even more so then Fudge, who was just doing what he knew, Percy, however, had been raised better.

"I am not trying to deny that Potter was in the Hog's Head that day trying to recruit his fellow students into a Defense against the Dark Arts group," she said, softly and evenly. "I merely wished to point out that if Dolores decides to say that the group was, at the time, illegal, then she would be very wrong. If you remember, the Ministry decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after their meeting, so Harry was not breaking any rules in the Hog's Head at all."

Percy looked as though he had been struck in the face by something very heavy. Fudge remained motionless in mid-bounce, his mouth hanging open. Amanda tried to retain a polite smile, instead of the smug look she was dying to give them all. Umbridge recovered first.

"That's all very fine," she said, smiling sweetly. "But we are now nearly six-months on from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are. As I'm sure you would agree, Professor McGonagall."

"Well," said Dumbledore, surveying her with polite interest over the top of his interlocked fingers, "they most certainly _would_ be, if they _had_ continued after the decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that these meetings continued?"

Amanda saw Kingsley shuffle a bit, and saw his lips move.

"Evidence?" repeated Umbridge. "Have you not been listening, Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe is here?"

"Oh, can she tell us about six month's worth of meetings?" said Dumbledore, looking mildly surprised. "I was under the impression that she was merely reporting a meeting tonight."

"Miss Edgecombe," said Umbridge at once, "tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head, I'm sure that won't make the spots worse. Have they been happening regularly over the past six months? Just nod or shake your head, dear," she said coaxingly. "Come on, now, that won't activate the jinx further…"

Marietta shook her head. Umbridge looked from her back to Fudge, and then back to Marietta again.

"I don't think you understood the question, did you dear? I'm asking whether you've been going to these meetings for the past six months? You have, haven't you?"

Again, Marietta shook her head.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?"

"I would have thought her meaning was quite clear," said Professor McGonagall harshly. "There have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"

Marietta nodded.

"But there was a meeting tonight!" said Umbridge furiously. "There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, it the Room of Requirement! And Potter was the leader, was he not, Potter organized it, Potter – _why are you shaking your head, girl_?"

"Well, usually when a person shakes their head," said McGonagall coldly, "they mean 'no'. So, unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign language as yet unknown to humans –"

Professor Umbridge seized Marietta, pulled her around to face her, and began shaking her very hard. A split second later Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand raised. Professor McGonagall the younger had stepped forward as well, her wand centimeters away from Umbrigde's face and a look of pure loathing in her eyes. Umbridge leapt backwards, waving her hands in the air as though they hand been burned.

"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores," said Dumbledore, and for the first time he looked angry.

"You want to calm yourself, Madame Umbridge," said Kinsley in his slow deep voice. "You don't want to get yourself into trouble now."

"No," said Umbridge, glancing between the towering figure of Kinsley and the wand still in Amanda's hand, which had lowered only slightly. "I mean yes – you're right, Shacklebolt – I – I forgot myself."

"Dolores," said Fudge, with the air of someone trying to settle something once and for all, "the meeting tonight – the one we know definitely happened –"

"Yes, yes… well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded at once to the seventh floor, accompanied be certain trustworthy students, so as to catch those in the meeting red-handed. It appears they were forewarned of my arrival, however. I have all their names here, Miss Parkinson ran into the Room of Requirement to see if they had left anything behind… We needed evidence and the room provided…"

From her robes Umbridge pulled out a scroll of parchment, on it was a list of names, supposedly everyone who had been going to the meetings. The horrorstruck look on Harry's face when he saw it was enough to confirm it.

"The moment I saw Potter's name on the list, I knew what we were dealing with."

"Excellent," said Fudge. "Excellent, Dolores. And… by thunder… See what they've named themselves?" said Fudge quietly. "_Dumbledore's Army_."

Amanda mentally sighed, that really wasn't going to help. Dumbledore stared at the list and for a moment seemed unable to speak. Then he looked up, smiling.

"Well, the game is up," he said simply. "Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius – or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?"

"Statement?" said Fudge slowly. "What – I don't –?"

"Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, still smiling. "Not Potter's Army, Dumbledore's Army."

"But – but – You?" he whispered.

"That's right," said Dumbledore pleasantly.

"You organized this?"

"I did."

"You recruited these students for – for your army?"

"Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting," said Dumbledore, nodding. "Merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that inviting Miss Edgecombe was a mistake, of course."

"Then you _have_ been plotting against me!"

"That's right," said Dumbledore cheerfully.

"NO!" shouted Harry. Kinsley flashed a look of warning at Harry, Minerva widened her eyes threateningly, but Amanda just shook her head, there was no way to win this one.

"No – Professor Dumbledore!"

"Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office," said Dumbledore calmly.

"Yes, shut up, Potter!" barked Fudge. Amanda thought she saw Dumbledore's eyes flash. "Well, well, well – I came here tonight expecting to expel Potter and instead–"

"Instead you get to arrest me," said Dumbledore. "It's like losing a knut and finding a galleon, isn't it."

"Weasley! Weasley, have you written it all down, everything he's said, his confession, have you got it?"

"Yes, sir, I think so, sir!" said Percy eagerly, whose nose was splattered with ink.

"– Wipe your nose, boy –" Amanda snapped testily.

"The bit about how he's been trying to build up an army against the Ministry, how he's been working to destabilize me?"

"Yes, sir, I've got it, yes!" said Percy, scanning his notes and absent mindedly wiping his nose.

"Very well, then," said Fudge, now radiant with joy. "Duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to the Daily Prophet at once. If we send a fast owl we should make the morning edition!"

Percy made for the door but tripped and fell, flat on his face, and dropping his notes at Amanda's feet. Picking them up, Amanda had the urge to toss them into the fire, but instead just grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

"I sincerely hope," she said, so quietly that only Percy would hear, "that you are proud of this, because I doubt anyone but your mother could be at this point." Percy looked at her in shock.

"What would you know of my family?" he hissed, snatching the notes from her hand.

"I probably know them better then you yourself." Percy gave her one last look of anger and confusion before he turned and dashed from the room, slamming the door behind him. Fudge turned to Dumbledore.

"You will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged and then sent to Azkaban to await trial!"

"Ah," said Dumbledore gently, "yes. Yes, I thought we might hit that little snag."

"Snag?" said Fudge. "I see no snag, Dumbledore!"

"Well," said Dumbledore apologetically. "I'm afraid I do."

"Oh really?"

"Well – it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to – What's the phrase?" he said, glancing in Amanda's direction.

"Come quietly?"

"–Yes. I am afraid that I am not going to 'come quietly' at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course – but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."

Umbridge's face was steadily growing redder and Fudge looked as though he had just been stunned. He made a small choking noise and looked around at Kinsley and the other man, the later of who moved away from the wall a bit and moved his hand a little closer to his wand, almost casually. Amanda found herself fingering her own wand, which was safely located in her sleeve, ready at a moments notice.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish," said Dumbledore kindly. "I'm sure you are an excellent auror, I seem to remember you achieved 'outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s, but if you attempt to – er – 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."

The man called Dawlish blinked, looking rather foolish. He looked toward Fudge again, but this time as if looking for a clue on what to do next.

"So," sneered Fudge, recovering himself, "you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores, and myself single-handed, do you?"

"Merlin's beard, no," said Dumbledore, smiling. "Not unless you are foolish enough to force me to."

"He will not be single-handed!" said Professor McGonagall, plunging her hand inside her robes.

"Oh yes he will, Minerva!" said Dumbledore sharply. "Hogwarts needs you! Both of you!" he added, shooting Amanda a warning look.

"Enough of this rubbish!" said Fudge, pulling out his own wand. "Dawlish! Shacklebolt! _Take him!_"

A streak of silver light flashed around the room. There was a bang like a gunshot and the floor trembled. Amanda threw herself down behind Dumbledore's desk. Several of the portraits yelled, Fawkes screeched, and a cloud of dust filled the air. There was a shriek and a thud and somebody cried, "No!" Then the sound of breaking glass, frantically scuffling footsteps, and then somebody landed next to Amanda with a thud and a groan – silence.

The dust settled to reveal the motionless bodies of Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley and Dawlish. All the spindly tables had been overturned, their silver instruments in pieces. Fawkes soared in circles overhead before lighting on Amanda's arm and crooning softly. She reached out to stroke his plumage in farewell.

After a few minutes of speaking with her mother and Harry, Dumbledore approached her; he put a hand to her cheek and made her look at him, his blue eyes fixed warningly on hers.

"Keep an eye on the forest," he whispered, speaking so low she could barely hear him, "don't let things get to out of control there. And keep an eye on Harry; don't let _him_ get to out of control either." Something about what he said didn't sound right to Amanda.

"You think he's being possessed, don't you?" she asked, suddenly understanding.

"I believe he could become so," he said, an edge of warning in his voice. "If that happens…" Dumbledore tapped his finger to her forehead and then straightened up, holding out his hand for Fawkes.

"Do not let him be lost," Dumbledore warned, before taking a hold of Fawkes long golden tail. There was a flash of fire, and then both of them were gone.

"Where is he?" yelled Fudge, pushing himself from the ground. "_Where is he?_"

"I don't know!" shouted Kingsley, also leaping to his feet.

"Well, he can't have disapparated!" cried Umbridge. "You can't inside the school!"

"The stairs!" cried Dawlish, and he flung himself upon the door, wrenched it open, and disappeared, followed closely by Kingsley and Umbridge. Fudge hesitated, then got to his feet, dusting himself off.

"Well, Minerva, Amanda," said Fudge nastily, "I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore."

"You think so, do you?" said Professor McGonagall scornfully.

Fudge did not seem to hear her; he was looking around at the wrecked office. A few portraits hissed at him; one or two even made ruse hand gestures.

"The two of you had better get those two off to bed," he said, with a dismissive nod at Harry and Marietta. They said nothing, but marched the two students out of the ruined office and down the staircase. They could just hear the portrait of Phineas Nigellus say, "You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts… but you cannot deny he's got style…"

**Bye Dumbledore. Wow guys, I came home from school and I'd gotten five more reviews, thanks, it really is nice. **


	37. Does anyone like Toadface?

The newest Educational Decree, Number Twenty-eight, had been posted overnight, announcing that Dolores Umbridge had replaced Dumbledore as the Head of Hogwarts. But that did not explain how almost every single person within the school seemed to know exactly what had happened in Dumbledore's office.

It had also become common knowledge that Umbridge had attempted to go back to the office, later that night, but it had sealed itself against her. Afterwards she had gone and picked a few _select_ students, all of them from Slytherin, and formed them into something called the Inquisitor Squad.

No one, aside from the Inquisitor Squad, was happy about the changes, luckily, Fred and George provided them with the perfect way to get back at Umbridge without her being able to do anything about it. It happened during lunch. Amanda was sitting at the head table, speaking in low tones with Severus, when all of the sudden –

_**BOOM!**_

The very floor of the great hall shook. Amanda, along with nearly every other teacher, slipped out the back entrance and sprinted down the hall towards the source of the commotion. On they way someone in front of her screamed and ducked, a large rocket, twirling madly through the air, hurtled over her shoulder, nearly taking her head off.

Someone – Fred and George – had set off a huge crate of fireworks. Dragons made up of gold and green sparks soared down corridors, emitting bursts of flame and loud bangs as they went. Bright pink Catherine wheels five feet in diameter whizzed lethally through the air like so many flying saucers. Rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls. Sparklers were writing swear words in midair of their own accord. Firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere Amanda looked, and instead of burning out, they just seemed to gain energy and momentum the longer she watched.

Filch and Umbridge were standing, transfixed with horror, halfway down the stairs. One of the Catherine wheels whirled towards them with a sinister _wheeeee_. The two adults screamed and ducked. Meanwhile, several of the dragons and a large purple bat that was smoking ominously took advantage of the open door to escape to the second floor. Amanda stepped down the stairs slowly, surveying the scene with appraising eyes. She stopped next to Umbridge and looked down at the cowering woman coldly.

"It seems you've been welcomed to Hogwarts, Headmistress," she said frostily. "I hope you can handle it."

The shorter toad-faced woman looked up incredulously and then jumped up, moving down the stairs quickly.

"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" she shrieked. "They'll be all over the school unless we do something – _Stupefy_!"

A jet of red light shot out the end of her wand and hit one of the rockets. Instead of freezing the rocket exploded with such force that it blew a hole in the portrait of a soppy looking witch in the middle of a meadow, she ducked out just in time, reappearing in the painting next door, where a couple of wizards playing cards hastily made room for her.

"Don't stun them, Filch!" shouted Umbridge, sounding for all the world as if it had been him who suggested it.

"Right you are, Headmistress!" Amanda sincerely hoped they would attempt to vanish them next; she and the boys had worked it out so that instead they would multiply ten-fold.

The fireworks continued to burn and spread all over the school, not that the teachers minded.

Amanda's tongue clucked as a large purple and gold dragon whizzed into the room, flying easily through the large oak doors, which Amanda had left open for the first time since she started teaching. The dragon flapped around the room, belching flame and banging around, knocking things over and leaving black marks on the wall.

"Mr. Finnegan," she said, looking at the large sparkling dragon with interest, "would you be so kind as to run along and find our dear new Headmistress, I really think I should leave this to her."

After class Amanda had the pleasure of waving a disheveled and soot covered Umbridge from her classroom.

"Oh thank you, Headmistress," she said, using the same sweet smile Umbridge had so often worn herself. "I'm sure I could have finished it off myself but I wasn't sure I had the proper _authority_…"

Being able to see Umbridge, the woman who would probably be trying to make her miserable for the rest of the school year, dejected and miserable was the highlight of Amanda's day. Nothing Umbridge said to her over dinner could make the smile drop from her face, but her good mood still didn't last.

She was running through the woods, and something was chasing her, crashing through the bushes and trees loudly. Amanda tried to run faster but she couldn't get away. Something caught her around her ankles and she fell. Amanda tried to get up but she kept tripping, so she reverted to crawling. A shadow fell over her and she froze, cowering. A hand flipped her over and Amanda looked up, meeting the eyes of her attacker, and screamed.

And suddenly she was attacking herself, slashing with claws she shouldn't have at the form screaming on the forest floor. Blood splattered into her face, blinding her and making her roar in rage.

Amanda awoke, sweaty and screaming. She looked around, welcoming the familiar darkness of her own room. Moonlight filtered through the window and lighted her way as Amanda shakily crossed the room and donned her silk black robe. Her hands shook and she paused, forcing herself to take several deep, calming breaths, or at least that's what they were supposed to be, they came out more like shallow gasps.

She fled her room soon after, lit wand in hand. The corridors were eerily quiet but she was glad, in this state if anyone were to step around the corner Amanda was likely to scream, hex their ears off, or, in the more likely case, both. Amanda wasn't entirely sure where she was going, she'd seen Severus clutch his arm earlier and knew he was at a Death Eater meeting and Dumbledore was gone, so she couldn't talk to him. She wasn't really as close to Firenze as she had been with Gryis, so that was out of the question.

Movement in a portrait caught her eye; a small unicorn was being chased around by a young maiden in a meadow. Amanda mentally smacked herself, of course, how could she have forgotten Carlisle?

Amanda pushed the great oak doors open, letting the cool night air waft inside for a moment before carefully closing the door behind her. She stole quickly across the grounds to a tree near the edge of the lake and sat, waiting. She didn't have to wait long, a moment later Carlisle stepped out of the shadows of the forest, his silver pelt glowing faintly in the moonlight.

"Thanks," she whispered, her legs curled up to her chin. Carlisle lay down beside her, allowing Amanda to use him as a backrest; she leaned against him gratefully, entwining her fingers in his warm fur.

Amanda shut her eyes and breathed in the sweet scent of the unicorn's fur while he sifted through her mind, searching for the nightmares that had plagued her for the past few months. He smelled foresty, like fresh earth, but somehow sweet at the same time; she tried to focus on his smell rather then relive the horrors of her dreams. At last Carlisle stopped looking through her nightmares and spoke.

**You have been letting your own horrors and fears mix with the atrocities you experienced through Voldemorts mind.**

"If I knew how not to," she said, slightly irritated, "I would not _let_ them do anything."

**Perhaps 'let' was poor wording on my part, I was not trying to say you were at fault here. **He paused before he continued, as if choosing his words carefully. **This Severus Snape, you do not have your nightmares when he is around?**

"No, never," she said, "but I can't sleep with him every night!" she added, catching on to Carlisle's next thought.

**I don't see why you humans have to make these things so difficult, it's obvious he likes you and we both know you like him, why must you continue to pretend otherwise?**

"It's complicated, I've known my feelings for so long, and if he truly does care about me then it is something he's only recently discovered." A ruthless smile took over her face. "Besides, he _loved_ Lily, and I don't want to be her substitute."

They sat in silence for awhile longer, simply watching waves lap at the shore of the lake. The forest behind them was alive with noise but Amanda was not welcome in there anymore, not that she minded too much, she still had Carlisle. She agreed with him though, she wished Severus would say something. She doubted he would though, he might care for her but not the way he had for Lily.

Amanda's thought drifted to Voldemort. It was hard not to think of him, she saw his red eyes in everything, and she heard him laughing every time she closed her eyes. How she hated him for what he'd done. For all the people he'd tortured, and the ones he'd killed. She hated him for all the people he'd had her kill. She hated him more for what he'd made his followers do, what he'd made Severus do, and what he was still making Severus do.

"I can't stand him anymore!" Carlisle didn't need her to tell him who 'him' was, he'd been keeping track with her thoughts. "He's everywhere, it's like there's nowhere I can escape to."

Carlisle said nothing.

"I thought I could handle him but I guess I was wrong," she said, softer this time. "I just want out. But I don't know how. He's horrible and disgusting and I can't seem to get rid of him, even when he's not around!"

A rustle in the trees nearby made Amanda look up suddenly, but she saw nothing.

Had she gotten up to look she would have seen Severus, stalking angrily away towards the castle after having just returned from a Death Eater meeting. She wouldn't know that he had heard what she had just said, and even if she did she would never have guessed that he had assumed that she was talking about him.

But Amanda had not gotten up; instead she remained leaning comfortably on Carlisle, unaware of the sulking Potions Master that was making his way to the castle, angry and confused.

After awhile Amanda rose and returned to the castle, slipping into her bed and falling quickly into an uneasy sleep.

The next day was no better, Severus refused to even look at her during breakfast, and when she angrily asked him what his problem was he just glared and said, "I have no problems." Nothing Amanda said after that got any better results, he was snide and rude to her for the next several weeks, using every insult in the book and then some. She tried to keep cool, but it wasn't long before she was shouting her own insults back at him.

The effect Severus's attitude was having on Amanda was evident, even to some of the students. Now without even the periodic respite from her nightmares Amanda found herself falling asleep between classes, while she was grading papers, and once in the middle of a staff meeting during which Umbridge had been making a long-winded speech about their job performance. The lack of sleep lowered her already weakened immune system and she kept getting minor colds and flu's, leaving her even testier then before. During her classes Amanda tried to behave no differently then normal, but her laughs were forced and her smiles rather strained.

It wasn't until three weeks later that she found anything to really smile at. Something was going on in the entrance hall, and what looked like most of the student population was in there, shouting and moving about. It was just like the night Trelawney had been fired, everyone was standing in a kind of circle and Umbridge was on the stairs, glaring down at her prey. Only this time many of the people in the crowd were covered in what looked like Stinksap, and it was Fred and George who stood in the center of the hall, gazing coolly up at the professor. Amanda watched from above, leaning over a stair rail several floors up.

"So!" said Umbridge triumphantly. "So… you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"Pretty amusing, yeah," said Fred, looking back up at her without the slightest bit of fear. Filch elbowed his way forward, clutching at some papers and almost crying with happiness.

"I've got the form, Headmistress," he said, waving the parchment over his head. "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting… Oh, let me do it now…"

"Very good, Argus," she said. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

"You know what?" said Fred. "I don't think we are. George," he said, turning to his twin, "I think we've outgrown full time education."

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," said George lightly.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?"

"Definitely," said George.

And before Umbridge could say a word, they raised their wands and said together, "Accio Brooms!"

There was a loud crash in the distance. And then Fred and George's broomsticks, one still trailing the heavy chain behind it, hurtled into the hall. They turned left, streaked down the stairs, barley missing Amanda, and stopped sharply in front of their owners.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Umbridge, swinging his leg over his broomstick.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George, mounting his own. Fred gazed around, looking at the assembled students and teachers.

"If anyone fancies a portable swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley- Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes," he said in a loud voice. "Our new premises!"

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat!" added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge.

"STOP THEM!" shrieked Umbridge, but it was too late. Fred and George pushed off from the ground, shooting a good fifteen feet into the air and arriving just in front of Amanda. They made a sort of bowing motion with their heads.

"Good bye, Professor, and fond farewells," Fred said, making a show of waving his hands. George mouthed the next words, so that those below couldn't hear.

"And thanks for the swamp, it's lovely," he whispered. So saying, they straightened up and looked over at Peeves, who was floating not far from Amanda.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves."

And Peeves, who had confessed to Amanda to secretly liking the twins, swept his hat from his head and sprang into a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultuous applause and sped out of the open doors into a glorious sunset.

The story of Fred and George's flight was retold so many times over the next few days that it was sure to become the stuff of Hogwarts legend. Not to mention the fact that they had not left instructions on how to remove the swamp, or at least, not with anybody who would actually share. Umbridge and Filch had been observed trying various means of removing it but with no success. Amanda knew she could have disposed of it, and she was quiet certain her mother could have as well, but, just as in the case of the fireworks, they decided to let Umbridge struggle.

Inspired by Fred and George, a great number of students were vying for the now vacant position of troublemakers. Dung bombs and Stink pellets were dropped so often in the halls that it became the new fashion to perform a Bubble-Head charm on oneself before leaving classes.

Filch stalked the corridors with a horsewhip ready in his hands, desperate to catch miscreants, but there were now so many of them that he didn't know which way to turn. Meanwhile, it became clear just how many Skiving Snack boxes Fred and George had managed to sell. Umbridge had only to enter her classroom for the students to faint, vomit, develop dangerous fevers, or else spout blood from both nostrils. Screaming in rage Umbridge tried to track the source but the students stubbornly told her they were suffering from "Umbridge-it-is."

But not even the Skiving Snack Boxes could compete with the masters of chaos, Peeves and Amanda. Amanda pulled out all her old tricks; enchanting dusters to chase after people; making chalk boards shout whatever was written on them backwards in high pitched voices; charming armies of small animals to chase after Umbridge day and night. She ripped out all the windows in the great hall, making it so teachers and students alike had to hold their hats down with one hand and their food with the other. The hallways leading to Umbridge's rooms were constantly covered in something gooey or filled with some sort of foul smelling concoction. Three times she made small storms in various parts of the school, leaving hallways covered in snow or hail. She even put glue on the students' benches, trapping them all in their seats for the majority of the day, and then doing the same thing to Umbridge that night.

But while Amanda kept her plotting secret, where perhaps only her mother and Severus could possible know what she was doing, Peeves was open about his pranks. Cackling madly, he soared through the school, upending tables, bursting out of chalkboards, and toppling statues and vases. Twice he shut Mrs. Norris in a suit of armor. He smashed lanterns and snuffed out candles, juggled flaming torches above the heads of screaming students, caused neatly piled stacks of paper to topple into fires or out of windows, flooded the second floor when he pulled off all the taps in the bathrooms, dropped a bag of tarantulas in the great hall during breakfast and, whenever he felt like taking a break, spent hours at a time floating after Umbridge and blowing loud raspberries whenever Umbridge spoke.

None of the staff seemed to be stirring themselves to help her. Indeed, a week after the twins' departure, Professor McGonagall, the elder, was seen walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and it was sworn that she whispered, "It unscrews the other way," before walking calmly away.

Amanda was reveling in the chance to get back at Umbridge. The only things that could dampen her excitement at that were her nightmares and Severus's behavior. He was still being an absolute beast to her, insulting her at every chance, and she was positive that it wasn't an accident when her coffee had spilled on her at breakfast, _three times._ When she couldn't spout her own insults back at him Amanda poured her pent up frustration out in her pranks against Umbridge. Although even that was sure to come back and bite her in the butt eventually.

**I don't own Harry Potter! Thank you guys for the reviews, you all are always so nice. I hope you like this one, even though not much really happened.**


	38. Yelling!

Umbridge, in spite of the many pranks and horrible things that seemed to happen right under her nose, delighted in throwing her weight around. And there was no one she seemed to delight in shoving under her thumb more than Amanda. The only problem was that Amanda was often prepared for this, or at least the way Severus had been treating her had numbed her to Umbridge's weak insults.

The doors to the great hall flew open with a bang, causing nearly everyone within to jump and look around with wide eyes. Professor Umbridge stood, looking triumphant, between the large oak doors, gazing up at the head table maliciously. Behind her, Filch had just dumped a suitcase in the middle of the room.

Amanda, who had previously been reading contentedly, sighed and stood up, marked her page carefully and set the book down before looking down at Umbridge, her expression one of polite interest.

"Am I to assume that those bags are mine?"

"Yes," Umbridge said, smiling sweetly, "we took the liberty of packing for you, think of it as a parting gift." Amanda nodded thoughtfully.

"That was kind of you, but unnecessary." Two cracks behind her announced the appearance of two house elves, Dobby and Matilda. Dobby's head was covered by a tall stack of colorful woolen hats, and Matilda's shawls twirled around her. Amanda knelt down to speak with them. "Would the two of you mind taking my bags back up to my rooms please?" The two elves bowed, Dobby's stack of hats wobbling dangerously, and then bounced down the hall, past the long rows of house tables and past Umbridge, whose smile never faltered, to the bags that lay in the center of the entrance hall, disappearing with a crack.

"I'm afraid you don't understand, dear, you're –"

"Sacked?" Amanda said, cutting her off. "Kicked out? Discharged? Dismissed? _Fired_? Yes, I thought so." She started to step around the table, the expression of calm politeness never leaving her face.

"Then why –" Amanda stopped at the top step leading up to the head table, looking down at Professor Umbridge with cool eyes.

"In your haste to get rid of me," she said, stepping down and walking slowly towards the toad-faced professor, "you didn't wait for the approval from the ministry to return, it never will. Because I worked in France, as a citizen, under _their_ Ministry, a contract had to be signed in order for my transfer, a contract which Fudge signed, albeit grudgingly. Only the Headmaster that signed it could fire me, and since you are not him, you do not have the authority to do so until next year. So I'm afraid, you're stuck with me."

Amanda was standing right above Umbridge now, looking down at her coldly.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have more important matters to deal with." With that final word she returned to the head table and picked up her book, returning to reading as if Umbridge was nothing more then an irritating fly.

That afternoon after Charms Amanda called Harry back.

"Potter!" she called, her voice cutting through the chatter like a whip. "I'd like to have a word with you."

Considering how testy she had become lately it came as no surprise when the boy looked nervous. Ron nudged him forward and then stood by the door, waiting.

"Mr. Weasley," she called, "unless you have changed your name to Potter, I suggest you leave!" Ron ducked out of the room hurriedly, motioning to Harry that he'd meet him later.

"Professor, I've got Transfiguration next, and I really shouldn't be late –"

"I will write you a pass, I'm sure my mother will understand."

"Professor?"

"I've received a letter, Potter, from Remus," she said, eyeing him over her desk, "he asks me if you've told me the one about the grumpy _Potions Professor. _I daresay I haven't heard it."

Harry gulped and told her what he'd done and how he'd seen his father attack Snape in Severus's memories, and how Snape, in his rage, had called Lily a mudblood. Amanda remembered that day as well, but for different reasons.

"And then what did he do?" she prompted.

"He told me he wouldn't teach me Occlumency anymore," Harry said, shrugging.

"He what?" she hissed. Amanda leaned back in her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. "I will speak with him," she said, "though, I cannot promise anything."

That night after dinner Amanda walked down to the dungeons. She didn't have much hope of him actually agreeing to take Potter back on; especially not with the way he'd been acting recently. And she really doubted that she would escape the encounter with him without feeling like absolute trash afterwards. The door to his classroom was ajar and soft orange light filtered through the crack.

"Severus?" she called, pushing open the door. He scowled.

"I'm busy," he growled. Amanda walked forward anyways. "Perhaps you cannot wrap your mind around the underlying meaning of 'I'm busy,'" he said smoothly, "it means get out!"

"Why have you stopped teaching Potter?" Severus's scowl got even darker.

"So, the boy went running to you, did he?" he snarled.

"Dumbledore asked me to keep an eye on his mind, it would be a lot easier if you were teaching him how to defend said mind."

"Been poking around in his head as well?"

"I don't go around poking into peoples minds," she said firmly.

"No, I forgot, you just get Dumbledore to say it's okay first, because Dumbledore makes everything okay –"

"Just teach the boy," she said firmly, cutting him off.

"Ha! Even with years of teaching and the best of teachers the boy still wouldn't be able to defend his mind from a mouse."

"He hasn't got years, he's just got you, and while that's not a very promising prospect it's the best we've got."

"Are you trying to say that I am not an adequate teacher?"

"No," she said, "I am merely suggesting that perhaps you cannot let your feelings for his father drop."

"And why should I?" Severus said, eyes deadly. "When the man made life a living hell for me at school? I would have thought even you could understand that."

"And I would have thought even you could understand that everyone deserves a second chance," she said lowly, taking a step closer. "Or maybe the reason you won't teach him is that you are afraid he will succeed and embarrass you again."

Severus's arm shot out like lightening, grabbing her hair just under the braid, at the base of her neck. His other hand grabbed hers, keeping her wand pointed straight at the ground. He tilted her head back until she was looking into his eyes, his nose inches from hers.

"_Don't_ call me a coward," he said, in a voice that could frighten the dead.

"Then prove me wrong, teach him," she said, her own eyes hard.

Severus started walking, pulling her with him but not letting her eyes move away from his own cold dark orbs.

"I will not be goaded by a little twerp of a girl who cannot even make up her own mind. Now," he said, standing in the doorway, "get out!"

He shoved her forward, quite literally throwing her out, and slammed the door as soon as she was out of his grasp. Amanda stumbled from the force of his push and cracked her head on the stone wall. She leaned against it for a moment, dazed, and then reached up to touch her eyebrow, which was throbbing horribly. Her fingers touched something warm and wet, blood.

A click behind her told her Severus had locked the door, and experience told her that he had sealed it with magic as well. She didn't even bother to try and undo the magic; there was no point and trying to talk to him when he was like this.

The next few weeks went by in a blur. The teachers piled more and more homework on the students in an attempt at making sure they studied and Amanda was glad, it was nice to have something to bury herself into in which she didn't have to think and grading papers was just mindless enough to do the trick. The students were finding their own ways to cope; they sold brain stimulants and stayed after class, trying to get her to give something away. She told them all that if they wanted to pass then they should have thought of that and listened in class, not that she thought any of her students would fail, she'd made sure they were all paying attention.

When the night before exams rolled around she was relieved. Soon the year would be over and she could get away, maybe visit Madame Maxime and see how her replacement was coming along. Perhaps even see her god-child.

That evening the examiners arrived. Amanda saw them walk in as she was on her way to the entrance hall. They were speaking to Umbridge, who she was pleased to see looked a little nervous. Professor Marchbanks was a tiny, stooped witch, with a face so lined it looked to be draped with cobwebs. She was also speaking rather loudly considering that she was standing about a foot away from Umbridge.

"Journey was fine, journey was fine, we've made it plenty of time before!" she said impatiently. "Now, I haven't heard from Dumbledore lately!" she added, peering around as though she expected to see him pop out from behind a statue. "No idea where he is, I suppose?"

"None at all," replied Umbridge, shooting a glare at Harry and his friends, who had been trying to walk by unnoticed. "But I daresay the Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough…"

"I doubt it," said tiny Professor Marchbanks, "not if Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know… Examined him personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did N.E.W.T.s… Did things with a wand I'd never seen before…"

"Yes… well…" said Umbridge, "let me show you to the staffroom… I daresay you'd like a cup of tea after your journey…"

On their way up the steps Professor Marchbanks spotted Amanda.

"You there!" she said, pointing with a long, boney finger. "That McGonagall girl, aren't you? You look the same, still all skin and bones and pale as a ghost! What've you been feeding her, Headmistress?" she asked Umbridge, sounding rather accusatory. Umbridge looked a little shocked and started to stammer, luckily for her Amanda came to the rescue, though it wasn't by any means to help Umbridge.

"I am quite capable of feeding myself, thank you very much!" she said, slapping the woman's bony finger away carefully.

"And here's another one you've got to watch out for, like Dumbledore, she was, surpassed her mother in Transfiguration and Defense against the Dark Arts, I examined both, you know… I remember a boy next to you, he managed to somehow set the room on fire, and this girl, don't know how she did it, she pulled all the fire together and transfigured it all into a little pebble…. Wasn't even hot… Don't know how she did it…"

"Yes… well…" Umbridge glared at Amanda and tried to shuffle the examiners up the stairs. "About that tea…"

The exam morning was uncomfortable, none of the fifth or seventh years were talking much, and they all just kept muttering Charms under their breaths. Amanda was a little nervous as well, the exams weren't only reflecting the skill of the students, they also reflected on the teaching ability of the teacher, and since it was her first year at Hogwarts she didn't want anything to go wrong.

During the theory part of the test Amanda wasn't allowed inside, all she could do was wait and hope they did alright. The morning dragged. After lunch Amanda followed the fifth years into a small chamber just off from the entrance hall where they would be taking the practical portion of their exam. Amanda stood by the door, pointing out free examiners to students when she called them in.

"Professor Tofty is free, Potter," she said, pointing him to what was perhaps the oldest of examiners. Beside him, Malfoy dropped the wine glass he had been levitating and Amanda sighed. It was hard to see them make foolish mistakes like that. All in all though it could have been worse; there were no massive fireballs, at least.

The next day Amanda had to sit in for her mother during the theory part of the Transfiguration exam, be request of Umbridge. The elder McGonagall had taken offense to the very idea that she would somehow help the students, but had stepped out and let Amanda watch them.

Amanda did get a good laugh though when, on Wednesday, Professor Marchbanks told her over dinner that Potter had informed her that she ought to have died last Tuesday. She'd also told her that the Weasley boy had described a very ugly man in great detail, only to realize that he was describing his examiners reflection.

That night during the Astrology exam Amanda was unable to sleep, her chest hurt and she was having trouble concentrating. Instead she stared out the window of her office, watching the lake and the trees ripple in the wind.

It was dark, peaceful, or at least it was until the doors of the entrance hall opened and light spilled across the grounds. No less then six figures marched out from the castle and into Hagrid's hut. Amanda felt her stomach drop; it seemed Hagrid would no longer be working among them this year. She kept watching Hagrid's hut as the minutes passed.

And then a roar from the cabin passed through the open window. A moment later a loud **BANG** echoed across the grounds. Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out she could see Hagrid roaring and brandishing his fists at the six people surrounding him, all of whom seemed to be attempting to stun him. Bright jets of red light were flying around Hagrid's cabin, bouncing off of him whenever they hit. A man yelled, "Be reasonable, Hagrid!" and Hagrid roared, "Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!"

The tiny form of Fang could be seen jumping around, trying to defend Hagrid until a stunning spell hit him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid gave another roar and picked the man who had stunned Fang up and threw him ten feet into the air. The man did not get back up.

Amanda fingered her wand and turned to rush to the grounds, but a sudden light caught her eye from the grounds, someone else had left the castle. A single long black shadow rippled across the lawn.

"How dare you!" the figure shouted as she ran. "How _dare_ you!" It was her mother. Amanda's grip tightened on her wand.

"Leave him alone! _Alone_, I say!" said Minerva's voice through the darkness. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such –"

Screams split the night air from somewhere above. No less then four stunners had hit her mother straight in the chest. For a moment she glowed a sinister red, then was lifted off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.

Amanda raced out of the office, her long robes billowing behind her like shadows reaching up to take the next person who got in her way. Someone grabbed her around the waist, just in front of the doors and Amanda struggled.

She twisted out of their grasp and punched them as hard as she could in the face. She felt bone splinter and heard a satisfying groan. Severus landed on the ground in front of her, his hands on his nose. She could see blood spilling from under his fingers.

"Don't you _ever_ touch me," she hissed before swirling back around and out to the grounds.

Hagrid was roaring more then ever now, trying to fight his way forward. Amanda raised her wand and a wave of water shot out ahead of her, it flew over the still form of Professor McGonagall and grew larger as it went. The wave cascaded down on Hagrid's attackers, knocking them to the ground and holding them there. Hagrid bent down and picked up Fang, moving towards Amanda.

"Hagrid, go!" she shouted, raising her voice to be heard over the torrent of water, which was still pounding down on his attackers. Hagrid ran, disappearing quickly into the dark forest and Amanda ended her spell, lowering her wand slowly, no one else moved. And then she heard yelling above her and turned, the entire fifth year had been watching, including the examiners.

Professor McGonagall didn't look well. Her breathing was shallow and a small trail of blood had trickled from the corner of her mouth. Amanda levitated her and moved quickly up to the hospital wing. She passed several other teachers who had been awakened by the noise and come to see what was going on but she ignored them.

In the hospital wing Severus passed her, glaring and wiping blood from his nose. Amanda placed her mother in a bed and Severus looked over.

"Did she try to stop you making a fool of yourself as well?" he sneered.

Amanda's wand lashed out, throwing Severus high into the air and out the door, where he crashed into the wall painfully. Amanda thought she saw a flicker of pain flash through his eyes but she didn't care. She just stared at him with cold eyes. Madame Pomfrey rushed over.

"I saw what happened. Four stunners right to the chest! At her age!"

Severus's eyes flashed again, this time with understanding. Amanda realized that he must not have known her mother had gone out there but she really didn't care right now, she didn't want to talk to him.

In the end Minerva had been sent to St. Mungo's where they wouldn't let Amanda see her. Umbridge still wasn't able to fire Amanda, even though she was positive it had been Amanda who had attacked them. Instead she had left the paperwork necessary to report Hagrid's disappearance and her mother's transfer to St. Mungo's to Amanda. After having been bothered a few time by Umbridge, who was trying to 'make sure Amanda was doing it right' she'd moved to her mother's office, which was a little more private since no one expected her to be there. She needed the peace now, her heart was throbbing painfully in her chest as if she had just run a mile and she was finding it hard to catch her breath.

There was a knock on the door. Apparently someone knew she was there. She ignored them in the hopes that they would go away, they didn't. Severus walked in instead. Amanda scowled darkly but he still didn't leave, instead he moved closer, stepping right up to the desk.

"How is Professor McGonagall?"

"I don't know," she said through grated teeth.

"You should –"

"You have made it quite clear to me that you don't care," she hissed, "so why can't you just go away?"

"Me? You're the one who didn't even have the decency to tell me that you couldn't stand it."

"What?" she honestly had no idea what he was talking about.

"No, instead I had to overhear you talking to one of your little woodland creatures." He turned away then, stalking to the door.

"Voldemort," was hissed from behind him.

"What?"

"I am sick and tired of Lord VOLDEMORT!"

She was standing and shouting now, looking more furious then he had ever seen a person. It was frightening, power seemed to radiate from her very skin and every feature on her face just oozed enragement. It was an anger to rival that of Dumbledore's or even the Dark Lord's. Angry red blotches stood out on her cheeks and her fist shook with rage at her sides. Her voice was laced with cold fury.

"The thing I fear most is losing control and hurting someone. I spent three months in the mind of Voldemort, watching him torture people and killing on his behalf, and somehow you thought that wouldn't affect me? I've had nightmares about it every night since I came back except the nights when you were there."

The injustice she had been feeling the past few weeks seemed to well up inside Amanda's chest and throat, choking her.

"I am exhausted and you have the audacity to think that this is my fault? _**Why**_ didn't you just speak to me?" There were tears forming in the corners of her eyes now and she shook all over. "You absolute piece of _arse_! How could you be so thick? You are the most infuriating pile of sh-"

The pain in her chest had doubled since she started yelling, and Amanda turned away, unable to complete her sentence. The pain stabbed at her, making it hard for her to breathe. She put a hand to her heart and the other on the desk, using it to support herself. And then she collapsed.

She felt like she was disconnected from her body, she couldn't feel the pain anymore and she couldn't move. She didn't feel Severus's hands catch her and she didn't feel the cold stone at her back when he lowered her down carefully. Everything moved in slow motion. He turned her over, he saying something but she couldn't hear him. Her head lolled back against his arm as Severus lifted her into the air, and then everything faded and she was left in darkness, once again utterly and completely alone.

**Does anybody else think it's odd that the chapter that's had the most visits other than the first one is chapter 19? That wasn't even a very good chapter… Anyways, review, tell me what you think please.**

**Cake-ya-san, what do you mean about the department of mysteries? What were you disappointed in?**


	39. Part 1, crap flows downhill

Madame Pomfrey had practically thrown a fit when Severus carried an unconscious Amanda into the hospital wing. She'd gone into a long rant about having had both McGonagall's in one night which turned into an even longer babble about all the times Amanda had come in during her school years. Severus had merely stood, glowering, by the wall until the Old nurse had finished her babble and came to tell him why Amanda had fainted like that.

"She's had a muggle heart attack," the woman said, pulling the blankets up around Amanda's sleeping form. "She's been under a lot of stress lately, what with Umbridge breathing down her neck and those horrible nightmares she's been having every night. She's stopped eating properly again too."

None of what she said was new to Severus, she'd shouted the bit about her nightmares less than half an hour ago and the rest wasn't hard to see. He couldn't help but sit and watch her pick at her food while Umbridge insulted her, to which Amanda would always have a terse comeback ready.

"Her body was shutting down, and I'm guessing that between her mother's attack and your argument, her body just couldn't take the adrenaline rush."

He left after that, feeling partially responsible for what had happened. She'd been right to be mad at him, and she'd been right to say that he should have talked to her instead of biting her head off every chance he could get, she probably hated him now.

The next morning he went to the hospital wing to check up on her, only to find a very irritated looking nurse. Severus backed out quickly and went to find Amanda, relieved that the nurse hadn't spotted him. He found Amanda walking down a hallway slowly, her hand pushing the wall for support. A flash of irritation shot through him, why couldn't she just stay in bed? Severus saw her stumble and rushed forward, picking her up easily in his arms.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, struggling to get out of his grasp.

"Taking you somewhere you can rest, where you should be," he said, "instead of walking around and weakening yourself further."

"Why do you even care?" she said, her tone was menacing and she was still trying to get out of his arms. Severus just tightened his grip and kept walking.

"Why do you care what I do?" she pressed. "You cared little enough before." Severus stopped walking and looked down at her.

"Amy…"

He sighed and started walking again.

Amanda collapsed into his arms, defeated. She didn't want to talk to him anymore, she just wanted to curl up somewhere and cry like a little kid. He didn't care anymore, not the way she had thought he had. He was just being the good person she knew he was deep inside and making sure she didn't kill herself. Or perhaps saving himself from a lot of tedious paperwork, either way.

Severus carried her down to his room and placed her gently on the bed. Amanda didn't even notice, she was beyond caring at that point. She turned away from him, curling into a little ball and pulling the covers over her head. From outside the covers she heard him sigh and felt the bed shift as he crawled into bed beside her. She felt his arm wrap around her from the outside.

At that moment everything came crashing down. Her mother's injury, Dumbledore and Hagrid's disappearances, Snape's recently developed hatred for her, Umbridge with her Ministry decree's, her own mental and physical exhaustion, and now Snape with his false comfort. A broken sob ripped from her lips and Severus's arms tightened around her, pressing her against his chest. She didn't think about the fact that he didn't really care for her as anything more then a friend, that he was just following some sick obligation of his; she just wanted to take comfort in his arms, if only for a moment.

Severus continued to hold her long after her heart wrenching sobs had ceased and she had fallen into sleep. He pulled down the covers and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Then he watched her, all day he watched, unable to look away and unwilling to leave her alone. Several hours passed and they remained undisturbed.

Well into the night someone knocked on Severus's door. Amanda whimpered slightly as he moved away, her face twisting into fear. He tucked her back in and kissed her forehead, lingering a moment before walking out and shutting the door carefully behind him. The knocker rapped again on the door and Severus swung the door open, already scowling down at whoever had dared to disturb him in his lair. Draco Malfoy stared back at him,

"The Headmistress wants to see you," the boy said, panting slightly. The Potion Masters scowl deepened but he followed Draco out and up to Umbridge's office.

Inside the office was packed. Ron, Ginny, Luna, Hermione, and Neville were all being held by large members of the Inquisitor Squad, all of them Slytherin. Potter was standing in front of Umbridge and glaring daggers at her.

"You wanted to see me, Headmistress?" he said, plastering a look of calm indifference on his face.

"Ah, Professor Snape," said Umbridge, smiling sweetly and standing up. "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick as you can, please."

"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter," he said coolly. "Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient." There was no need for her to know that he had several vials of the potion hidden amongst his private stores.

"You can make some more, can't you?" she said, her voice becoming sweeter as it always did when she was furious.

"Certainly," he said, his lip curling in disdain. "It takes a full moon cycle to mature, so I should have it ready for you in around a month."

"A month?" squawked Umbridge, swelling like a toad. "A _month_? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found Potter using my fire to communicate with a person or persons unknown!"

"Really?" he said, unable to keep a slight touch of interest out of his voice. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter had never shown much inclination to follow school rules." _Like Amy._

He stared deep into Potters eyes and the boy stared back, looking desperate. Severus wished he had Amanda's ability to slip into minds at will; it was obvious the boy wanted something from him. But Amanda was unconscious downstairs in his room, too tired to be of any use to them now.

"I wish to interrogate him!" repeated Umbridge, breaking his concentration. "I wish you to provide me a potion that will force him to tell me the truth!"

"I have already told you," he said smoothly, "that I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter – and I assure you I would have the greatest sympathy for you if you did – I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms are too fast to give the victim much time for truth-telling…"

"You are on probation!" Umbridge shrieked. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now get out of my office!"

He gave a mocking bow, she was right about him being deliberately unhelpful, and turned to leave.

"He's got Padfoot!" Potter shouted. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"

"Padfoot?" cried Umbridge. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"

Severus turned around to look at Potter, keeping his face as blank as possible.

"I have no idea. Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little, if Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork, and I am afraid I shall have to put it on your reference if ever you apply for a job." And then he left, his thoughts darkening already as he realized he would have to get a hold of Dumbledore and notify the order that something was going up, doing so would almost certainly involve speaking with Black.

Several hours later, down in the dungeons, Amanda awoke alone. She wasn't surprised, who would want to stick around while she was crying her eyes out? However much she hated breaking down in front of Severus she still felt a lot better though.

A contented groan escaped from her lips as she stretched, listening to tendons and bones pop with satisfaction. She took a hot shower next, relishing the heat and blocking out the fact that she was still in Severus's room. She stole some of his clothes, tailoring them to fit her, and then left, heading down to the kitchens to get a bite to eat.

She was lying to herself though, and she knew it. She was purposely not allowing herself to realize certain facts: one, that she had been in _His_ room, was wearing _His_ clothes, and that _He_ had left her there. Two, she denied to herself that she would have to see Him eventually and that it would hurt. And most of all, she refused to allow herself to remember that He didn't care for her anymore.

Halfway to the great hall a voice pushed its way into her head, almost making her trip and fall down the stairs.

**Amanda!** Carlisle's voice rang out loudly in her mind, the distraction allowing her to further the illusion that she'd put up in her mind that everything was alright.

_What's wrong?_ She could feel his exasperation and relief that she was finally awake.

**A woman from the castle has been captured by the centaurs. She enraged them and they took her. **An image of a short, toad-faced woman being borne aloft by angry centaurs followed his words, she saw two other figures standing on the edge of the image, they were small, only children.

_The children, who are they? Where are they now? _

A clearer image of the two appeared, Hermione and Harry, and then they were joined by others, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna. She saw them climbing on top of thestrals, several of them looking extremely nervous to be mounted on something they couldn't even see. Amanda growled deep in her throat.

_Where did they go?_

**The Department of Mysteries, they said they had to rescue someone named Sirius.**

Amanda thanked him, racing quickly down the stairs. She had to tell the order; they had to go after them. No one passed her as she ran to the entrance hall, down the grounds, past Hagrid's hut and through the gates of Hogwarts. A loud crack signified her disappearance and then she was gone, having not spared a second thought to the whereabouts of High Inquisitor Umbridge.

Number 12 Grimmuald Place was in an uproar when Amanda arrived. Screams from the kitchen could be heard the moment she opened the door, mixing with the shrieks from the portrait of Sirius's mother. Amanda pulled out her wand, silencing the portrait and making her way to the kitchen.

"I'm going!" she heard someone roar, it sounded like Sirius.

"You must stay here; someone has to report to Dumbledore!"

Amanda walked in on what looked like a family feud. The large table that was normally the focus of the room had been thrown against the wall and bits of food and slivers of wood littered the floor. Lupin, who had been the second voice, and Kinsley were both standing side by side, looking pleadingly at Sirius. Tonks seemed to be on Sirius's side, standing with her wand out. Moody's real eye was fixed on the argument, but his magical one had whizzed around to focus on Amanda.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she shouted, instantly silencing the rest of the room. "Potter and his friends are probably fighting for their _lives_ against Death Eaters right now! And yet you stand here, arguing like children over who gets left behind?"

There was a moment of silence, in which the adults in the room looked at the ground in silence, several with guilty expressions.

"Now," she said calmly, "is there anyone, other then us, who can stay behind and inform Dumbledore of what's happening?" Several members shook their heads, but Sirius brightened.

"Kreacher!" he shouted. The little elf, aged and decrepit looking, stepped into the room, muttering under his breath about them as always. Sirius looked at him with disdain. "Kreacher, stay here and tell Dumbledore what's happened. There," he said, turning back to the rest of them, "problem solved. Let's go!"

The others sighed but agreed, they didn't have the time to argue about it anymore. The six of them made their way to the Ministry in silence, each of them looking grim but determined. Once they got to the Department of Mysteries, however, there was another problem: no one knew where the children were, or even how many Death Eaters there were.

"Moody, can your eye see them?" asked Remus. Moody's eye whizzed around, staring fixedly through the floor.

"I don't see them," he said gruffly. Amanda closed her eyes, searching. She found the mind of Lucius easily, having used him before, and gleaned details from him.

"Death Chamber," she grunted, filling them in on the rest as they walked. "I'm not sure where they all are, but there are twelve Death Eaters total and six students. Ten of the Death Eaters are in the Death Chamber, surrounding Harry and Neville, the boys have the Prophecy."

Dumbledore had told them all of her ability shortly after she'd returned from her time with Voldemort. They probably didn't really understand it, she knew she didn't fully understand it, but they didn't need to.

The group piled into the Death Chamber with their wands raised and ready; Tonks got the first shot off, sending a stunning spell right at Lucius. Amanda briefly wondered what the point of the mask was for him; his long blonde hair gave away any hopes of him not being recognized anyways, and it probably prevented him from being able to see a lot of things as well.

A sudden streak of purple sparks ripped Amanda from her thoughts as she was forced to dodge the Death Eater's attack. She sent a ball of fire hurtling towards him. He dodged but stepped on his long robes, falling and loosing his wand.

Another Death Eater jumped her from behind, knocking her to the ground and flicking his wand at her face.

"Protego!" she cried, raising her arm to defend herself.

The spell bounced way from her face, instead leaving a deep gash on her wand arm. Amanda lashed out, her foot connecting with his knee with a loud crack. He howled in pain and fell to the ground. She ripped off his mask, it was Rodolphus. He sneered at her through the pain.

"You always were annoying, but that ends tonight!"

His wand came up and she flew backwards, crashing into someone else and slamming them both into the wall. Amanda cursed herself for dropping her guard like that, thankful that the spell hadn't been something more lethal. She took some satisfaction though from the fact that the person she had crashed into had been a Death Eater. They groaned but did not get up.

Standing up, Amanda took a moment to look around. Sirius was in a duel, his opponent was about to back into a wall, Moody was fighting Dolohov and winning, and Tonks was holding her own against Bellatrix. Rodolphus had disappeared. Amanda wanted to help Tonks but Kinsley caught her attention, he was fighting off two Death Eaters, and they were slowly starting to surround him.

She jumped into the fray, pushing the other Death Eater back with her wand. Kingsley gave her a relieved smile and they faced the two. A bright light shot out of one of the Death Eaters wands, momentarily blinding them. Amanda threw up a shield and several spells that had been shot after the light bounced off. Spells were flying from all directions, forcing them to keep an eye on the other duels as well. Suddenly a cry went out, Bellatrix had defeated Tonks.

Sirius rushed immediately to fight her, turning his back on his previous opponent who wasted no time in trying to attack the now distracted Sirius. Amanda gritted her teeth and shot a spell at him, successfully gaining his attention and making their fight three against two. Kingsley was panting. Amanda lashed out with a wall of fire, pushing all three Death Eaters back and giving them both a moment to breathe. Kingsley fired spells into the fire and someone behind it screamed.

The fire vanished to reveal only two Death Eaters left; the third was lying motionless on the ground, his robes nearly burnt to a crisp. One of the Death Eaters waved his wand, shooting purple flame at them. Amanda countered with a wall of water and Kingsley fired more spells through that. One of his spells hit a Death Eater in the face, sending him flying backwards and shattering his mask, revealing him to be Rookwood.

The other Death Eater sent two large snakes from his wand; they slithered angrily across the stone floor towards them. Rookwood rejoined the fight, leaving Amanda and Kingsley to fight off two Death Eaters and two snakes. Kinsley sent a jet of red light at the snakes but instead of stunning them it just made them angrier. A spell exploded above their heads and debris showered down, distracting them. The Death Eaters took advantage of their lapse in attention, Rookwood shot a spell at Kingsley that caused large bats to form out of thin air and attack his face. One of the snakes lashed out at Amanda, missing her leg by inches. She sent it flying with her wand, straight into Rookwoods face. She stunned the other Death Eater and Kingsley, who had freed himself from the bats, banished the other last with a wave of his wand.

Amanda left Kingsley to finish off Rookwood; she had spotted a now healed Rodolphus and Lucius about to swoop in on Harry and Neville. She blasted Rodolphus into a wall, catching their attention. Lucius snarled and then laughed.

"You would fight your friends, Amy?"

She didn't respond, instead choosing to throw another fireball in his direction. Lucius lunged, dodging the fireball by inches and shot his own spell at her. Rodolphus, leering as always, joined in, launching his own spells at Amanda. Spells shot back and forth, bouncing around so quickly that the floor around them had been demolished within seconds. Jets of light rained down around them, making them look like dancers in a spectacular display of fireworks. Blood splattered the floor from Amanda's arm as she swung it around in complicated spell patterns.

Amanda became aware that only one other pair was still fighting, Sirius and Bellatrix. She briefly wondered why everyone else had stopped but then she saw him, Dumbledore had appeared. Amanda's eyes kept turning back to Sirius and Bellatrix, she may not like him but she didn't want him to die. She heard him laugh while she continued dodging spells from Lucius and Rodolphus.

"Come on, you can do better then that!" he yelled, his voice echoing across the room. And then his laughter stopped.

Amanda risked a look over at him. The smile had not left his face though his eyes widened in shock. He fell slowly, his body curving gently back into an arc as he slipped through the ragged veil that covered the arch. Bellatrix screamed in triumph and Harry yelled.

A spell hit Amanda, pushing at the shield she had put up with enough force to throw her high into the air. She landed with a thud and rolled, stopping at someone's feet and not moving.

Amanda lay there for a moment, winded and in a slight shock. She could see Lupin, he had grabbed Harry, who was still yelling, and was dragging him back away from the dais. Dumbledore was standing just in front of her, but had not seen her yet, he had roped most of the remaining Death Eaters in the center. Moody was crawling towards Tonks, who lay unmoving a few feet away. Flashes of light and yells could be heard behind the dais, Kingsley had rushed forward to finish the duel with Bellatrix.

Dumbledore took a step back, his shoe landing in the blood from Amanda's arm. He turned and knelt down, pulling her to her feet and keeping a steadying arm on her shoulder. There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais, Amanda saw Kingsley fall in pain. Bellatrix was running up the stairs. Dumbledore and Amanda both shot spells at her but she deflected them, cackling evilly. Harry had broken free from Lupin and was chasing her up the steps.

"SHE KILLED SIRIUS!" bellowed Harry. "SHE KILLED HIM – I'LL KILL HER!" And then they were both gone, vanished from sight.

Dumbledore was moving towards the steps but Amanda was faster, she raced past him and up the steps, her black braid bouncing behind her. She half expected Dumbledore to call her back, but the only thing he said was, "Be careful!" Amanda smiled ruthlessly and sped up.

She ran through a room with brains on the floor, passed Ron and Ginny, and leapt over Luna, who was lying on the floor. Amanda growled and focused on Bellatrix's mind; she pushed her way in and used it to follow them. The room with the spinning doors had been left open by Harry and she ran towards the lift, pressing the button marked Atrium with enough force to shatter the plastic covering. She saw the door behind her closing and knew it would start spinning in a moment, making it nearly impossible for anyone to follow them, even if they knew where they were going.

She had to let go of Bellatrix's mind after that, it was too draining to hold on to. The lift was taking too long, she heard Bellatrix screaming. The screams didn't sound triumphant, but they didn't sound like screams of pain either. Amanda growled in impatience, she wanted to fight, not stand in some elevator! She had to avenge Black, much as she had hated him before, he'd become more like a brother to her this year, and Bellatrix had taken that from her. She would pay.

**Sorry I had to divide the Department of Mysteries battle, but it was just too long to keep it all in one chapter. I guess you guys didn't have much to say about the last chapter, but I hope you do for this one and the next chapter! I had a couple people ask me to do something about the Department of Mysteries ending but I didn't know what to change because they didn't really explain themselves… sorry if you don't like it.**

**And yes, I **_**had**_** to kill Sirius!**


	40. Part 2, tears and healing

Finally the lift doors opened. The scene that met her eyes was not one Amanda was expecting. Voldemort was there, standing in the room in his black cloak, his face white and gaunt, scarlet slit-pupiled eyes gazing straight at Harry, his wand raised and ready. Harry was standing, staring horror faced at Voldemort, his wand pointed uselessly at the ground. Bellatrix was on the floor at Voldemort's feet, pleading with him.

"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" she sobbed. "Master, you should know –"

"Be quiet, Bella," said Voldemort dangerously. "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?"

"But Master – he is here – he is below –"

Voldemort paid her no attention, and Amanda took the opportunity to move closer, still out of sight.

"I have nothing more to say to you, Potter," Voldemort said quietly. "You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry didn't move, but Amanda did. A wave of her wand sent Harry sliding across the floor, out of the way of Voldemort's spell. His eyes narrowed and he looked around, startled. He spotted Amanda and laughed.

"So, you want to die first? Very well."

Another jet of green light shot out but Amanda dodged it, sending a great wall of fire in his direction. The fire hid Voldemort from view and Amanda used the time to rush over to Harry and pull him to his feet, she didn't want Voldemort picking him off when she wasn't looking. A huge gust of wind blew the fire away and knocked Harry back off his feet, his wand flew from his hand and out of sight.

"Sectumsempra!" Amanda shouted, cutting through the air with her wand.

Voldemort dodged the attack but his wind spell vanished. Bellatrix was back on her feet and facing Amanda, her wand at the ready. Amanda waved her wand and a jet of red light shot out but Bellatrix deflected it. Amanda shot another spell at her before she could recover and it hit, Bellatrix screamed and fell down, her legs no longer strong enough to hold her up. Voldemort flicked his wand and Amanda put up a shield. The force of his spell sent her and Harry flying backwards. She jumped up and blocked his next attack.

"Aw, little Amy can't handle fighting the Master and defending the Potter boy," said Bellatrix, still on the ground. "Why don't you just hand him over?"

"Shut up, Bella," she said, keeping her eyes focused on Voldemort.

Bellatrix shrieked in rage and shot a spell at her. She deflected it easily and turned to Voldemort. Amanda shot spell after spell at him, but he dodged or deflected them all. Bellatrix joined him and Amanda was forced to go on the defensive. Spells, deflected by their targets, rained down around the room, destroying the floor and toppling a stone column that had stood beside a fireplace.

Soon enough Amanda was panting and she wondered desperately where Dumbledore was. She wished she could contact him but she couldn't afford the lapse in concentration. Suddenly Voldemort and Bellatrix shot their spells at the same time, Bellatrix's at her and Voldemort's at the still defenseless Harry. Amanda dove and grabbed him, moving them both out of the way. The floor exploded where Harry had been standing.

Before they had time to recover another spell was hurtled at them. Amanda had just enough time to cast a shield but the spell ripped through it like paper, sending both of them flying into the air. Amanda grabbed onto Harry in mid-air, pulling him closer to make sure he didn't fly down the stairs.

Harry landed on top of Amanda and thought he heard something crack; he bounced off her and landed again some feet away on the cold hard stone. Her wand clattered a few feet away. Another spell whizzed just above them and collided with the pillar, there was a great groan and several loud cracks and the pillar started to fall, right on top of them. Amanda pushed herself forward and grabbed onto Harry, throwing herself over him and out of the way.

A scream tore from her lips as the column crashed into the ground, it seemed she hadn't moved them out of the way enough, her leg was crushed beneath. Amanda could hear Voldemort and Bellatrix's laughter over the pounding of blood in her ears. She pulled Harry closer, pushing him under her as much as she could to protect him from their spells. He was shaking. The next thing they heard was Voldemort's cruel voice.

"Crucio," he said calmly.

Amanda bit her lip and tensed, trying not to writhe and scare Harry anymore then he already was. She pushed him further under her; still shielding him from Voldemort's piercing eyes. Her breath came out harsh and shallow, each one feeling like a knife in her lungs.

"Harry," she whispered hoarsely, "he's going to kill me. Wait for the spell and then run. Do you understand?" Harry nodded and then opened his mouth to speak, but Bellatrix beat him to it.

"What are you telling him, Amy?" Bellatrix asked sweetly. "Are you telling him that everything will be alright? But no, no your not, are you? You were never one to lie. Crucio!"

Amanda hissed and tensed, her body shaking of its own accord. Her fingers pressed into Harry's arm, the knuckles white, there were sure to be bruises. She sucked in air with shaky breaths when the spell ended, thankful that it would end soon, not that she'd ever admit that to anyone else. Harry tensed, ready to run. She heard Voldemort chuckle.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry jumped up and ran. Amanda waited with baited breath for the spell to hit.

But it never did.

Ahead of her she could see the headless statue of the centaur from the fountain in front of Harry, she saw a stone arm above her and realized that the statue of the noble wizard had jumped in front of her, deflecting the spell.

"What –?" said Voldemort, again sounding shocked, and then. "Dumbledore," he breathed.

Amanda's heart leapt. She heard Bellatrix scream and saw a glimpse of her running from the golden witch, spells bouncing uselessly off its chest.

"It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," said Dumbledore calmly. "The Aurors are on their way –"

"By which time I shall be gone, and you dead!" spat Voldemort.

A jet of green light hit the security desk, causing it to burst into flames.

Something flew by her and Amanda felt her hair stand on end, a deep gong sounded from where she remembered Voldemort to be standing, it was a chilling sound.

"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" called Voldemort. "Above such brutality, are you?"

"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," said Dumbledore calmly. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit –"

"There is nothing worse then death, Dumbledore!" snarled Voldemort.

"You are quiet wrong," said Dumbledore, sounding as though they were discussing the matter over drinks. "Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things worse then death has always been your greatest weakness –"

Amanda saw the goblin running at Dumbledore and then heard it shatter, the pieces falling to the ground. She saw a flash of fire fly at Voldemort and wrap around him but the crackling of the fire disappeared quickly, turning instead into the hissing of a snake.

"Look out!" yelled Harry and Amanda wished she could see what was happening, but that would require her to move, and her leg was still trapped under the column and felt as if it were on fire. She saw a small bundle fall to the floor, a baby Fawkes.

Amanda heard the crash of water on stone and then a scream from Bellatrix, "MASTER!" She saw Harry start to move, but Dumbledore bellowed, "Stay where you are, Harry!"

For the first time Amanda had known him, Dumbledore sounded afraid. Amanda cast her mind out towards Harry's trying to find out what was going on. She felt something familiar also reaching for him, something much larger and more twisted then herself. And then Harry collapsed, screaming. His fingers scratched at his scar and he writhed on the ground.

"_Kill me now, Dumbledore…" _It wasn't Harry's voice, it was, but it wasn't at the same time. This voice was evil, twisted sounding. Harry groaned in pain.

"_If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"_

And then it was gone, Harry slumped on the ground and his eyes closed. Amanda heard the golden statue of the wizard step away from her but didn't dare move. Her leg and ribs were on fire, sending waves of pain coursing throughout her whole body.

The column in front of her groaned, and started to rise. Amanda clapped a hand to her mouth to muffle her scream of pain the movement brought to her crushed leg. Hot tears sprang to her eyes. A cool hand pressed against her cheek and she heard Dumbledore's soft voice.

"You did well, Amy," he whispered, his other hand lifting her head up, cradling it. "You kept him safe, well done."

Amanda could only whimper in response as he tried to gently move her. He didn't let her turn her head and look at her leg; she wanted to, she had to know how much damage had been done. She saw his wand moving out of the corner of her eye and the pain lessened, it didn't disappear completely but it was at least tolerable.

The fireplaces behind them were crackling as people stepped through but Dumbledore ignored them. He pulled Amanda to her feet carefully, supporting her completely when she started to collapse as her good leg gave out. Amanda shivered a little, she had not taken time to grab her cloak and the stone floor had been cold. Dumbledore removed his own deep purple robe and wrapped it around her thin frame.

Amanda felt the statue take hold of her, lifting her into a comfortable sitting position and then stiffening and becoming completely solid again. She tried to move the cloak a little, to look at her leg, but Dumbledore took her head in his hands, forcing her to look up at him again. His clear blue eyes met hers, holding her transfixed.

"Are you okay, Amanda?" he asked looking concerned.

"Yeah… I – I think so…" she said, feeling a little dazed now that everything was under control. Dumbledore nodded once and stepped back, moving quickly over to Harry, who was still laying face down on the cold stone floor.

Still ignoring the people who were filing out of the fireplaces along the wall Dumbledore turned Harry over. He leaned down to get a closer look at the boy just as Harry woke up.

"Are you alright, Harry?"

"Yes," said Harry, who was shaking so violently he could hold his head up properly. "Yeah, I'm – where's Voldemort, where – who are all these – what's –"

The tiny golden statue of the house elf was leading a stunned looking Cornelius Fudge over to them. A scarlet- robed man with a pony tail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble where Bellatrix had been trapped, shouted, "He was there! I saw him, Mr. Fudge, I swear, it was You- Know-Who, he grabbed a woman and Disappirated!"

"I know, Williamson, I know, I saw him too!" gibbered Fudge, who was wearing pajamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles. "Merlin's beard – here – _here!_ – In the Ministry of Magic! – great heavens above – it doesn't seem possible – my word – how can this be?"

"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, walking forward so that the newcomers realized that he was there for the first time, "you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disappiration Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."

"Dumbledore!" gasped Fudge, apparently beside himself with amazement. "You – here – I – I –" He looked wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him, and it could not have been clearer that he had half a mind to cry, "Seize him!"

"Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men – and win again!" said Dumbledore in a thunderous voice. "But a few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong men for twelve months, it is time you listened to sense!"

"I – don't – well –" blustered Fudge. "Very well – Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see… Dumbledore, you – you will need to tell me exactly – the Fountain of Magical Brethren – what happened?" he added in a kind of whimper, staring around at the floor at the scattered remains of the golden statues.

"We can discuss that after I have sent Harry and Professor McGonagall back to Hogwarts," said Dumbledore.

"Harry – _Harry Potter?_" Fudge wheeled around and stared at Harry, who was standing beside the fallen statue that had been guarding him during Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel.

"He – here?" said Fudge, goggling at Harry. "Why – what's all this about?"

"I shall explain everything," repeated Dumbledore, "when Harry and Amy are back at school."

He walked away from them to where the golden head of the centaur lay on the floor. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Portus." The head glowed blue and trembled noisily against the stone floor for a few seconds, then became still once more.

"Now see here, Dumbledore!" said Fudge, as Dumbledore picked up the head and carried it back to Amanda, motioning for Harry to accompany him. "You haven't got authorization for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister of Magic, you – you –" His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him over his half moon spectacles.

"You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts," said Dumbledore. "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so he can return to work. I will give you…" Dumbledore pulled a watch from his pocket and surveyed it, "half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more then welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the headmaster will find me."

Fudge goggled more then ever, his mouth was open and his face was pink.

"I – you –"

Dumbledore turned back to Harry and Amanda. He helped Amanda stand and then positioned them so that Harry was supporting her and keeping the weight off her bad leg. He placed the small, featherless form of Fawkes in Amanda's hands and handed Harry the Portkey.

"I shall see you in half an hour," said Dumbledore quietly. "One… two… three…"

They felt the familiar sensation of being jerked backwards and then the solid floor of the Atrium was gone, as were the faces of Dumbledore, Fudge, and everyone else as they vanished in a whirlwind of color and sound.

Amanda felt the solid floor of Dumbledore's office under her feet and jerked to a stop, the office coming into focus instantly. The head of the golden centaur fell to the floor with a thunk and Fawkes squawked pathetically.

Everything seemed to have repaired itself during the headmaster's absence. The silvery instruments rested once again upon their spindly legged tables, puffing and whirring serenely. The portraits of headmasters and headmistresses were snoozing in their frames, heads lolling back against their chairs or against the edges of pictures.

Harry helped Amanda, with Fawkes still in her hands, lean against a shelf of books, and then sat down himself. The silence, broken only by Amanda's labored breathing and the occasional grunt or snuffle of the sleeping portraits was unbearable. Harry paced around the office, breathing quickly, trying not to think. Amanda looked up at the pacing boy and sighed.

"You shouldn't dwell on it," she said, looking at him over his shoulder. Harry ignored her. "Harry," he stopped, "what is done is done. Sit down."

Harry felt anger rising within him. What did she know? She didn't even like Sirius! She was probably glad he was dead! He glared at her and kept pacing, his pent up frustration growing. Amanda sighed, and when he walked by her again grabbed his shoulder.

"I know you don't think I know how your feeling, but dwelling on it won't help," she said, trying to sound calm through her pain. "I think Sirius would want you to move on."

"Your right," Harry said, through clenched teeth, "you don't know what I'm feeling! You didn't even like Sirius, you're probably glad he's gone!" He pushed her arm around harshly and stomped away, heading for the door.

The force of his push knocked Amanda off balance, and she slid to the floor painfully, wincing. Several portraits made sounds of protest, having woken up during Harry's little tirade, "Now see here!" "Most improper!" and the tiny featherless Fawkes squawked indignantly. But Harry ignored them. He sprinted to the door and wrenched at the knob, trying to get out.

"It's locked," Amanda grunted when he began kicking the door, "you can't leave."

"Let me out," said Harry, not turning around.

"I can't," she said, clutching at her leg, Dumbledore's spell had worn off, and the pain was growing with every second. Her breathing was shallow and sweat was sliding down her forehead.

"You can't keep me here," Harry said, his voice rising.

"I can't unlock the door."

Harry whipped around, lashing out and knocking one of the spindly legged tables to the ground, the small silvery instrument smashing on the hard floor. Amanda winced as several of the pieces flew around her.

"LET ME OUT!"

A sudden burst of emerald flame leapt from the fireplace and Amanda looked up, relieved. Harry leapt away from the door, staring at the man spinning within the grate. As Dumbledore unfolded himself from the fireplace the wizards and witches on the surrounding walls jerked awake. Many gave cries of welcome.

"Thank you," said Dumbledore softly.

He did not look at them yet, but walked over to where Amanda sat in pain and took the tiny Fawkes from her hands, setting the young phoenix in the tray of soft ashes below the perch where the full-grown Fawkes normally stood.

Dumbledore then turned back to Amanda and helped her stand. He placed an arm around her waist and with surprising strength for an old man pulled her arm over his shoulders, nearly lifting her completely off the ground. They made their way to the office door just as someone knocked. Dumbledore opened it slightly and handed Amanda off to the person outside, she felt like a rag doll.

"I'll be down to check on you as soon as we're done here," Dumbledore said.

Amanda nodded and looked to the person who was now supporting her, it was Madame Pomfrey. The nurse held her up and helped her walk without putting any weight on her bad leg, but it was slow going and Amanda kept having to stop to recover her breath.

When they finally arrived in the hospital wing Amanda sank gratefully onto a bed. The constant waves of pain were exhausting, leaving her shaking and covered in sweat. A few beds over Amanda could see Hermione, and beside her, Ron. Across from them she saw the still forms of Remus and Moody. They were all sleeping peacefully, her own harsh breathing the only thing breaking the silence.

Madame Pomfrey bustled over, juggling a few potions in her arms.

"Drink this," she said briskly, nearly shoving the neck of a bottle down her throat. "It'll numb you down while I get a good look at the damage. Heaven knows you must need your head looked at – running off like that the day after you collapsed!"

Poppy pushed her back and gently pulled away the purple cloak she was wrapped in. The cloth stuck to her leg, glued down by her own sticky blood. Amanda grimaced, pulling the cloak off sent sickly shivers up and down her spine. She looked down to see the damage, and immediately regretted it.

It was horrible, hardly recognizable as a leg at all. The remaining stump of a leg was swollen and disfigured, with white slivers of bone sticking out of bruised purple and black skin. Blood had coagulated on her skin, having bursted out when the pillar crushed her leg. Amanda suddenly felt sick.

"Poppy," she muttered, trying to give the nurse some warning.

Amanda pushed herself off the side of the bed and faced the cold stone ground. Her back heaved and she hurled all over the once clean floor. An image of her leg flashed through her head and she heaved again. The splattering sound echoed loudly in the room and her ears were ringing.

And then a cool rag was on her forehead and Poppy was forcing her back down on the bed.

"Sh, just close your eyes and relax," Poppy murmured, lowering the rag down to cover her eyes and giving her no choice.

A cool cup of something was pressed to her lips and Amanda drank gratefully, anything to get rid of the vile taste in her mouth. A moment later she slipped into blissful darkness as the Sleeping Potion went to work.

The Hospital Wing was completely silent when Amanda woke up, and not even the starry sky outside brightened the room. Poppy and all the other nurses were gone, sleeping the night away in their own rooms. Dolores Umbridge was curled up and shaking in the bed to Amanda's right. Moody and Remus were gone, and Harry had taken one of their beds, his glasses were skewed on his nose.

Amanda lay still for a few moments, making sure that she was alright and that no one was awake before sitting up. Her leg, when she dared risk a look at it, was wrapped in bandages all the way up to her mid thigh. She slid off the bed and stood up gingerly, putting weight on her leg slowly. It didn't hurt too much until she tried to shift her weight onto it gingerly.

Amanda grabbed her wand and transfigured her clothes into something more her style and that covered her leg. She drew a long cane with her wand and took a few slow steps with it. Satisfied, Amanda sped up and escaped the hospital wing quickly. She had a feeling Voldemort had taken his anger out on his remaining followers and she wanted to make sure Severus was at least alive. Much as she hated his harsh words and then his false comfort, she couldn't deny that she cared for him, deeply.

_Carlisle? Do you know what time it is?_ The ever ready voice of Carlisle responded immediately.

**By your human standards, I believe it is around midnight, on Saturday. And in answer to your next question, **he continued, **Severus Snape collapsed, just outside one of the side doors.**

_Well aren't you helpful? _She thought, sarcasm bouncing around in her head. Her only response was a feeling of amusement before Carlisle withdrew and she was left to her own thoughts.

The halls were completely silent, the portraits all dozing in their frames, her cane echoing on the stone floor was the only sound that disturbed the eerie silence. Amanda sped up.

Severus was exactly where Carlisle had said he would be, lain out in a bloody huddle just outside the castle. Amanda checked his pulse and then, satisfied that he was in no eminent danger, levitated him with her wand. It was hard going, holding her wand in the air and leaning on her cane at the same time, especially on the stairs. By the time she got him downstairs and onto his bed her leg was throbbing and she was shaking all over.

Amanda peeled his robes away carefully, not so much as to not hurt him but to not wake him up. She did away with his shirt completely. Amanda looked at his chest and tried not to remember the time not to long ago when they'd been... been what? What _had_ she been to Severus? His practice? His substitute for Lily? But it didn't matter now; he'd made it clear he didn't want her as anything more then a friend, and perhaps not even that. It was possible he had just helped her out before as payment for all the times she had helped him out when they were kids.

Distracted, Amanda took a step sideways, forgetting about her injured leg, and nearly fell over. She whimpered in pain and bent over, her eyes watering suddenly. The pain effectively distracted her from her previous train of thought, something for which she was grateful, and Amanda returned to tending to Severus's wounds.

He was mostly covered in large bruises, with only one long shallow gash on his arm, but other then that he would be fine. It seemed the Dark Lord had mostly used the Cruciatus on him, not that that wasn't punishment enough, it was just good for her because it meant she didn't have much to heal. Amanda coated a numbing solution on his bruises, used her wand to close the gash on his arm, wiped off all the blood and then stepped back. Severus looked a lot better, his breathing had calmed and he looked peaceful.

Amanda, on the other hand, wasn't doing as well. Her face was flushed and her leg was throbbing. Her long dark bangs were plastered to her forehead with sweat and her breaths were coming in short painful gasps. She collapsed against the wall, glad of the cold stone against her back. She let her eyes close, intending to rest for only a moment, but soon she was out cold, her head lolled back against the wall.

She was attacking them again, the victims of Voldemort. They screamed and ran but her mouth, which she had no control over, just twisted into a cruel smile as she approached. Her victims ran but she walked, magically still faster then them. Amanda ripped at their flesh with her claws, claws she shouldn't have, and their screams were cut off.

The scent of blood filled her nose and her heart sped up. She was in a rush, the blood sending adrenaline pumping through her veins as she slashed and bit her next victim until their screams gurgled to a stop. And then she began to recognize the faces of her victims, first old friends, then Fleur, Bill, Charlie, Dumbledore, her mother, and last of all, Severus. She descended upon each one, unable to stop the slash of her own claws and unable to stop the sick laugh that escaped her lips. When she came upon her finale victim, Severus, he didn't run like the others, he just looked at her with his cold, dark eyes. She couldn't look away from them; they sucked her in, crushing her, eating away at her soul. She screamed and tried to escape, but there was no way out, there was nothing but the darkness; she was utterly alone.

Amanda screamed, thrashing around in her terror. Tears ran down her cheeks. She shot up, blankets pooling around her waist, to see Severus sitting on the bedside with a strange look in his eyes; he must have moved her while she slept. For a long time the only sounds were her gasps and periodic shuddering sobs.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Sorry? Why was he sorry?

A piece of hair had fallen across her eyes, obscuring her vision; Severus reached out a hand as if to brush the piece away but paused halfway before letting his hand drop and looking away. Amanda felt her heart drop; he couldn't even touch her.

She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, wincing at the movement in her bad leg, and limped away, grabbing her cane as she went.

"I should be getting back to the hospital wing," she muttered gruffly, staring at the ground in front of her feet. Severus said nothing to stop her, she wished he would. She reached the door and paused, staring at it for a moment before reaching for the handle. A hand on her arm stopped her from actually opening the door. He turned her around almost roughly.

And then his lips were on hers, soft at first but then more demanding. Amanda kissed him back just as urgently and soon she was against the wall, his hands sliding up and down her waist and her arms around his neck. His hands tightened around her waist and Amanda pressed herself, if possible, even closer to him. Her fingers entwined in his hair, as Severus ravaged her neck with his mouth, leaving her breathless. She felt hot tears forming at her eyes; how could he do this and then intend to kick her out? It wasn't fair!

A knock on the door interrupted them. Severus pulled back and gave a quizzical look to her tears. Amanda looked down, shaking, and made a gesture to his bedroom door. He nodded and backed up, giving her room to walk. She stumbled and picked up her cane, limping quickly back to his bedroom, all the while with fresh tears pouring down her cheeks.

Once around the door her legs gave out. She curled up on the floor and tucked her knees to her chin, ignoring the wave of pain from her leg, and cried, trying to keep it as quiet as possible.

"Good morning, Severus, I trust you are feeling well?" said a gentle voice.

"As well as can be expected, Headmaster," said Severus. Of course, after what had happened yesterday Dumbledore would be back.

"I was wondering if you might know where Amy is, she was supposed to be in the hospital wing."

Dumbledore was looking for her. He almost certainly knew where she was. The man probably even knew that she was, at that moment bawling her eyes out, crouched on the floor of Severus's room.

Amanda stopped listening after that, she didn't really care anyways, Severus would just say he didn't know where she was and Dumbledore would leave. She could feel Carlisle on the edge of her thoughts, ready to comfort her if she'd let him. But she didn't, instead she buried herself deeper into her mind, shutting him off completely. She didn't understand, how could Severus kiss her like that if he didn't care for her? What had she done to make him hate her so?

Severus's footsteps made little noise as he reentered the room and sat beside her. He watched her for a few minutes before saying, "You shouldn't hold your leg up there like that, it will only make the pain worse."

Amanda wanted to scream at him but couldn't. She moved her leg even closer to her body, it gave her a sense of sick pleasure to spite him, she just wanted him to feel some small amount of the pain she had been feeling. Severus grabbed her, pulling her into his lap and holding her still. She tried not to look at him, not that she could see much of anything with all the tears in her eyes. A sob wrenched itself from her throat; she didn't want him to hold her, to remind her of what he was taking away. She cursed the sob; why must she always show how weak she was in front of him?

"Why are you crying, Amy?" he whispered, his mouth at her temple.

"I don't…. I can't…" she couldn't get the words out, her mind was in a blank.

"You shouldn't cry," he said, "that was not my intention."

"Then why are you doing this?" she said, suddenly angry. "Why wouldn't you touch me, or look at me? You've been ignoring me or being rude for the past two months! Why?" she whispered the last part, her anger and energy spent.

Severus sighed.

"I heard you talking and misunderstood what you were saying. I wanted you to feel some small part of the pain your words had caused me. I was wrong." Her thoughts being echoed in his words brought Amanda back to reality.

"We are," she said slowly, "_so_ _stupid_."

Severus's arm tightened around her waist and he leaned into her a little more Amanda relaxed, feeling the relief wash over her as she realized how foolish they'd both been. Her head lolled back against his and her eyes closed.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked.

"I'm just tired, in so many ways."

She felt his smirk against her temple.

Severus shifted, standing up and pulling Amanda carefully with him. He led her to the bed and helped her lay down before crawling in next to her. Amanda moved her leg so that it wouldn't get in the way. Severus glanced down at it before pulling her against him comfortably.

"What happened to your leg?" he asked, speaking into her hair because he had pressed her head to his chest.

"I let a pillar fall on me."

"Let me guess," he said jokingly, "you decided to fight the Dark Lord single handedly."

Amanda didn't say anything.

"You didn't," he growled, pulling back to look at her.

"Not exactly," she said, suddenly becoming very interested in her nails. Severus grabbed her chin and made her look at him.

"What _exactly_ happened?" Amanda grinned sheepishly.

"It wasn't that bad," she said, "Harry was there, and Bellatrix. Of course, it might have been easier if Potter hadn't dropped his wand."

"You defended Potter against the Dark Lord _and_ Bellatrix," he said slowly, "it even sounds like the stupid kind of thing you would do."

"In my defense, Voldemort wasn't there when I ran after them, you know."

"Just go to sleep," he muttered.

Amanda smiled and moved closer to him, curling up as best she could against his chest. The rhythmic beating of his heart lulled her to sleep quickly and Severus followed soon after, more then glad she was back in his arms.

**Well, that was the Department of Mysteries, hope you guys liked it. Let me know and I might just put another chapter up today… or two!**


	41. Everyones so happy how odd

The next morning they stuck together, Severus escorted her to the hospital wing where Poppy fussed and reprimanded her sternly for leaving the hospital wing without being cleared. After they managed to escape the overprotective nurse – Amanda used her wand to knock over a tray behind the nurse and they ran for it when she was distracted – they made their way to the entrance hall. They entered just in time to see Potter whip his wand out at Malfoy.

"Potter!" Snape's voice echoed around the hall as he descended upon Harry and Malfoy, Amanda just behind him. "What are you doing, Potter?"

"I'm trying to decide what curse to use on Malfoy, sir," said Harry fiercely. Amanda smiled inwardly, at least he was honest.

"Put that wand away at once," Severus said curtly. "Ten points from Gryff –"

He looked at the giant hourglasses on the walls and gave a sneering smile.

"Ah, I see there are no longer any points left in the Gryffindor hourglass to take away. In that case, Potter, we will simply have to –"

"Add some more?"

Professor McGonagall the elder had just stumped up the stone steps into the castle. She was carrying a tartan carpetbag in one hand and leaning heavily on a walking stick with the other, but otherwise looked quite well.

"Professor McGonagall!" said Snape, striding forward, "Out of St. Mungo's, I see!" It was hard to tell, but he really was pleased that she was okay.

"Yes, Professor Snape," she said, shrugging off her traveling cloak, "I'm as good as new. You two – Crabbe – Goyle –"

She beckoned them forward imperiously and they came, shuffling their feet and looking awkward.

"Here," she said, thrusting her carpetbag into Crabbe's chest and her cloak into Goyle's, "take these up to my office for me." The two boys turned and stumped away up the marble staircase.

"Mother," said Amanda sternly and stepping forward, "the next time you decide to go gallivanting off to help someone I would really appreciate it if you would take someone else with you."

"You're one to talk," muttered Harry.

Amanda's cane snapped out like a whip, whacking him in the back of the head with a sound 'thunk!'

"I'll have no sass out of _you_, boy," she said, brandishing her cane in front of him like a weapon, "you have a similar lesson to learn!"

Harry rubbed the back of his head and sort of mock glared at her. Minerva frowned at her, looking at the cane Amanda was once again leaning heavily on.

"And what happened to you?"

"Oh, you know," Amanda said casually, "same old, same old."

"As long as you didn't go up against You-Know-Who, or anything," she said, shaking her head and sighing.

No one said anything. Amanda thought she saw a smirk forming on Severus's face and glared at him, daring him to say anything.

"You didn't!"

"Well –" Minerva's cane snapped up, smacking her soundly in the back of the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Because you're always getting into trouble!"

"Oh, and I suppose that's my fault, is it?" Amanda said, still rubbing the back of her head.

Minerva's cane came up again but Amanda was ready for it, she brought her own cane up and they smacked into each other with a resounding 'thunk!' For a few moments they were engaged in a fierce mock sword fight, each wobbling precariously without the support of their canes until Amanda lost her balance and started to fall backwards. She braced herself for the impact of the cold stone floor but it never came, instead, Severus's strong hands caught her, one on her arm and the other around her waist.

"Can't you act your age?" he asked, sounding mildly amused under his falsely irritated tone.

"Oh I am," she said as he set her back on the floor, his arm lingering for just a moment longer than was necessary. "It's just everyone else that isn't; they all act as if their decrepit and about to break, or something."

Professor McGonagall straightened and readjusted her robes.

"Right then, well, I think Potter and his friends ought to have fifty points apiece for alerting the world to the return of You-Know-Who! What say you, Professor Snape?"

"What?" snapped Severus, even though he had heard perfectly well. "Oh – well – I suppose…"

"So that's fifty each for Potter, the two Weasleys, Longbottom, and Miss Granger," said McGonagall, and a shower of rubies fell into the Gryffindor hourglass. "Oh – and fifty for Miss Lovegood, I suppose," she added. "Now, you wanted to take ten from Mr. Potter, I think, Professor Snape – so there we are…"

A few rubies retreated back into the upper bulb, leaving a respectable pile below.

"Well, Potter, I think you ought to be outside on a glorious day like this," she continued briskly.

Harry did not need telling twice, he thrust his wand into his pocket and headed straight for the front doors without a backward glance. Malfoy had run off somewhere earlier, so that just left the three professors.

"Well, Amanda, I would, of course, like to catch up on the goings on at Hogwarts since I've been gone, perhaps over tea later?"

"Of course," Amanda said, smiling warmly.

"Very well, then, good day to you, Severus, and you, Amanda."

And then it was just Amanda and Severus, standing in the middle of the empty entrance hall. Amanda was still smiling a bit and Severus was wearing his usual scowl of annoyance.

"Sneaky," Amanda said brightly, "isn't she?"

Severus just grunted and she laughed.

"Well, I'm going to visit my room now," she said brightly, "I'll see you later, Severus."

She made to walk away but Severus grabbed her arm and pulled her into a more secluded hallway. He pushed her against the wall and then is lips crashed down on hers demandingly. Amanda returned the kiss just as passionately, her arms reaching up and around his neck to run through his hair. It seemed a long time before Severus pulled back.

"Just in case you manage to kill yourself before later," he explained. Amanda smiled and moved closer to him again, giving him a small kiss.

"Why don't you come with me?" she said quietly, "just in case I do."

Severus didn't say anything but followed her up to her room anyways. As soon as they were into the staircase leading up to it Amanda turned on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him softly. Severus backed her into the wall and placed his hands on her waist. Amanda gasped as one of his hands found its way under her shirt and ran up her spine. She felt Severus smirk at her reaction.

His hands moved down to her thighs and he lifted her up, making her wrap her long legs around his waist. He smirked again before moving to her neck, nipping tenderly at the soft flesh. Amanda's breath hitched as she tried not to moan in pleasure.

Severus had been moving forward slowly since picking her up and now her back was against the door. Her hand scrabbled around, looking for the doorknob; the bed would be so nice. Just as they managed to get into the room Amanda heard a grinding noise and they stopped.

"What is the point of a password," she growled as Severus set her back on the ground, "if everyone knows what it is? Would you mind sitting in the bedroom for a few minutes? I'll try to get rid of them quickly."

Severus walked briskly to her room and closed the door, just as someone else knocked on the other one. Amanda checked that the bedroom door was closed before moving to the other, opening it to see Dumbledore's smiling face looking in on her.

"Good morning, Amanda," he said, smiling brightly, "I trust you slept well?"

"Yes, thank you, Albus," she said, stepping back and opening the door wider. "Would you like to come in?"

"Certainly, and, if you would not mind, I would like to use your bathroom, it seems I need it more pressingly then I thought I would," he said, entering and holding a long object in his hand. "And incidentally, you left your cane on the stairs," he added, handing it to her.

Amanda fought not to blush when he handed it to her, remembering why it was she had dropped it in the first place. Dumbledore disappeared into her bathroom and the door to her bedroom opened slowly, Severus stepped out and walked quickly past and out the other door, descending the staircase and moving quickly out of sight. She sighed and pursed her lips, Dumbledore probably knew Severus was there, and most likely only went to the bathroom to give him a chance to escape.

Dumbledore returned a few moments later, an amused twinkle in his eye. Amanda began to silently pray that he wouldn't tell her mother about what he thought her and Severus were doing, the woman would hardly approve.

"Would you care for some tea, Dumbledore?" she asked, motioning for him to take a seat.

"I'd be delighted," he said. Amanda busied herself in the kitchen.

"How can I help you?" she said, once she had returned with their tea and plopped down in one of her comfy armchairs.

"How is your leg feeling?" he said, sipping at his tea.

"Better," she said.

There was silence while she waited for Dumbledore to get to the real point of his visit, he would not have disturbed her if he hadn't had one. They finished off their tea and then just sat and watched the light filter through stain glass windows.

"Madame Maxime said you usually disappear over the summer," he said casually.

"I don't like to stay in one place, it gets rather boring."

"Hopefully you will be able to find something nearby to hold your interest this year," he said.

Amanda clucked her tongue, it sounded like leaving the country was out.

"Perhaps," she said lightly, "may I ask why you think this year will be any different?" Dumbledore turned to look at her fully, his sparkling blue eyes full of concern and seriousness.

"Severus told me about Fenrir," he said, "and, as the werewolf has shown interest in finding you again, I think we would all feel safer knowing exactly where you are this summer."

Amanda bristled inwardly. So, they thought she couldn't take care of herself, did they? Her eyes flashed with sudden fury. She wasn't a little girl anymore! She could take care of herself!

A moment later Amanda calmed and her eyes returned to normal, the truth was that she couldn't take care of herself. How many times had she proven this to be true? She'd been speared through the stomach by a pole, nearly drowned in a lake, gotten into who knew how many fights, had multiple potions explode on her, been kidnapped and attacked by a werewolf, collapsed into Severus's arms multiple times, been attacked by an imposter of Moody, and had almost been killed trying to protect Harry from Lord Voldemort. She was just a burden on everyone else that had to take care of her. And why did they bother anyways? It wasn't as if she had anything to offer them. Perhaps it would be better if she left…

"Amy!" Dumbledore's sharp voice shook her from her reverie.

"Sorry," she said, mentally shaking her head, "I got lost in my thoughts."

Dumbledore stared at her for a long moment, his fathomless blue eyes filled with an expression she couldn't read. He almost looked sad and concerned.

"We would _all_ feel better knowing you were safe," he said, stressing his words.

Amanda wasn't really thinking clearly, still stuck in her little cycle of self loathing. Of course they would all feel better, one less nuance to worry about. Dumbledore sighed and stood up, moving so that he was right in front of her.

"You worry me when you stay silent, little one," he said, placing a hand on her cheek and locking his gaze with hers.

Of course she worried him; she was good at making people worry. Amanda cringed inwardly, why couldn't she stop making people worry and just learn to take care of herself? She suddenly felt angry again, why did they care what she did with her life? They should all just get over whatever made them worry and let her be.

"Don't worry," she said, plastering a small smile on her face. "I was just trying to figure out what to do over the summer."

Dumbledore didn't look like he was buying it, but after a moment he stood up anyways.

"Thank you for the tea, Amy," he said, kissing her forehead, "I hope to enjoy such meetings more often."

"Good bye, Dumbledore."

Amanda didn't move after he had closed the door, she just sat there staring blankly at the wall. She didn't like knowing she was useless, it was like a poison, seeping into her veins and coursing through her whole body. Every time she struggled to find a reason for her existence a reason that it wasn't true popped unwillingly into her head. Dinner came and passed and still she sat, brooding. Someone entered but she didn't turn around, just continued staring at the wall.

"You're supposed to knock," she growled, her voice soft.

"When you didn't come to dinner I thought I should make sure you hadn't actually managed to kill yourself." Even though his tone was teasing rather than insulting Amanda still cringed mentally.

Amanda finally turned around, Severus stood a few feet away, staring at her with his dark eyes. She got up and walked over, placing one hand on his chest and standing on her toes to give him a soft kiss. Severus looked confused and put his hands on her waist, not letting her move away. Amanda didn't even try; she liked the feeling of warmth that was spreading through her from their contact, washing away some of her own self doubt.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head and smiling softly.

"You used to be so good at lying, now, however…," he growled, taking her chin and making her look at him. "What's wrong?"

Amanda hesitated, her mouth half open and forming words as she searched for the right ones.

"Do I… do I make you… happy?" It was an odd question, but it was the only way she could think to say it. Severus looked confused again.

"Why do you ask such foolish question?" he asked, making Amanda's eyes narrow and her fists clench in irritation. "You are the most annoying, childish creature I have ever had the good fortune to meet…"

"You mean misfortune," she said dully.

"No," he said simply, tilting her head back up to face him. "You are also insufferably kind, almost annoyingly intelligent, you're funny and hard working and beautiful. And you're one of the few people who puts up with me."

Amanda pressed her face into his chest to hide her blush and wrapped her arms around his waist, savoring the warmth he gave her. It always astounded her how caring Severus could sometimes be.

"I need you," he whispered.

It wasn't 'I love you.' But it was more than enough for Amanda; it gave her a purpose. Amanda felt tears come to her eyes but ignored them, squeezing her eyes shut and holding Severus as close as she could. She pulled him to the bed and curled up by his side, using his chest as a pillow once again. With one hand Severus moved her own hand to rest just over his heart and he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders. The combined pounding of their heartbeats lulled them both into sleep.

**I resent that remark about the teasing and the cliffies SituationalExtrovert! Lol. If I didn't tease no one would post comments like "Omg what's about to happen?!" or "You had better not do…!" I love those! Thank you guys for reviewing, I'm glad someone liked the action scene 'cause I'm really bad at writing those.**


	42. Father daughter moments, priceless

The summer sped by rather uneventfully for Amanda. She spent the majority of it wondering around her old town, she had rented an apartment a few blocks away from her old house. It was semi-depressing to spend so much time on her own, but Severus was under constant watch from Lord Voldemort, the Burrow was full, no one knew whether Grimmuald place was safe and her mother was off with Dumbledore most of the time, doing whatever it was Dumbledore had in store for them all.

It was the waiting that was the worst part. She had no patience for the stupid and thus Dumbledore rarely called on her to visit someone and rally them to their cause, and she wasn't an Auror so when fights broke out she was forced to stick to the shadows, rather then openly fight. It was so frustrating to be unable to help out openly.

But she had been at the Brockdale Bridge; it had been something of a nightmare. Most of the muggles there had been too frightened once they'd seen her use her wand to actually accept her help and then, once they'd saved as many people as possible, she'd had to run around, searching for muggles who had seen the magic and erase their memory. What made it even worse was the Ministry's insistence that only Aurors and their people be allowed to help, they said something about not being able to trust anyone else. When Fudge was sacked and Rufus Scrimgeour stepped up into his pace the policy was kept firm.

She had also been shuffled around to keep an eye on various muggles, such as the Prime Minister and his family. But the murders of Emmeline Vance and Amelia Bones forced the Ministry to take more precautions about people, Kingsley, under Ministry orders, had been put in place to guard the Minister, which left Amanda free to do other things. The Ministry had taken the death of Amelia hard, though not nearly as hard as Amanda had, they had been good friends at Hogwarts.

And then there had been the hurricane. It hadn't actually been a hurricane, which was just the cover story; it had really been a Death Eater attack. Luckily few muggles were killed, but there had been horrible injuries. Trees had been uprooted, lampposts bent, roofs ripped off, there had been a giant involved but they hadn't been able to find it once they'd managed to get rid of all the Death Eaters.

As if all that wasn't enough, the dementors had completely abandoned their posts at Azkaban – just as Dumbledore had said they would – and were now roaming the streets, feeding off random muggles and generally casting the whole country into a kind of despair.

And the Death Eaters knew where she was. They may not know exactly who she was, but they knew a witch or wizard not under the control of Voldemort had taken up residence there. She had agreed to Dumbledore's requests to stay low, but she'd be damned if she was going to allow dementors to float up and down her street, scaring the living daylights out of people who couldn't even begin to comprehend what was going on. The dementors had returned each time she had chased them out, and each time in greater numbers, but so far it hadn't been a problem for her, and she had already made arrangements for someone to drop in and take her place when the school year started. It wasn't until a good two months before term that Amanda returned to Hogwarts under less then pleasant circumstances.

It hadn't even been a gloomy night, the stars were out and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Amanda was sitting in her room, reading the muggle news while she waited for her tea to heat, when suddenly there was a burst of flame and a loud screech. Amanda jumped up, her wand at the ready, but it was just Fawkes. He shrilled loudly and circled above her head, swooping down at her and then rising again, the flustered phoenix seemed to be in a panic.

The next time Fawkes swooped down Amanda reached up to grab him, missed, and caught his tail instead. The bird gave one last trill and then they were consumed by flames. She had the impression of moving very fast, even though she wasn't moving at all, and then they stopped, the fire disappeared, and she was in Dumbledore's office.

Severus was standing, staring at her in shock, with his body half turned towards Dumbledore and his hand still stretched out over a bubbling potion, various leaves poised in his fingers to be dropped into the concoction below. The portraits along the wall were all switching their gazes from Amanda to Severus to Dumbledore and back again quickly, as if not sure who to watch, nearly all of them had grim or worried expressions on their faces. Dumbledore himself was sagging sideways in his throne like chair behind his desk, his eyes half closed in semi-consciousness and his skin pale. His right arm dangled off the edge of the seat, blackened and burnt looking.

Amanda wasted no time in explanations, merely stepped forward and took the leaves from Severus's hand, nodding towards Dumbledore and signifying that she would finish the potion. Severus nodded once and moved on to Dumbledore's hand, pointing his wand at it and muttering incantations under his breath. She could hear Dumbledore muttering as well, though about what she couldn't be sure, it didn't sound remotely comprehensible.

"Ariana…" he murmured.

That name, Amanda knew that name. She knew it well. Long ago during one of his many visits Dumbledore had told her about Ariana, and what had happened to her. Contrary to Dumbledore's belief she had gained a lot of respect for him that day, to be able to carry on after possibly killing someone so precious was something Amanda knew herself to be incapable of. She and Dumbledore had spent long hours talking about Ariana in which Amanda did everything she could to convince Dumbledore that it was not his fault. In the end she hadn't been sure she had gotten through to him, but he had smiled before he left, telling her that she reminded him so much of Ariana. Amanda had cried for a long time after that; she didn't want to be like anything that could make Dumbledore feel such sadness.

"Ariana…"

There was that name again, barley distinguishable from his other mutterings, but Amanda heard it. Severus, who had never even heard the name before, didn't notice the difference; he only noticed the stricken look on Amanda's face. She was looking at Dumbledore, who was looking at her. His eyes were more open then before, but they weren't seeing Amanda, he was seeing _her_.

Fawkes crooned and alighted on Amanda's shoulder, wrapping his tail around her neck. Amanda blinked and went back to the potion. The portraits stared at her, Severus stared at her, and Amanda stared at the potion like it was the only thing in the world. When the potion was finished Amanda calmly walked over and tilted Dumbledore's head back. But he opened his mouth again.

"I'm sorry… Ariana…"

She clenched her teeth and poured the golden liquid down his throat, watching as his eyes closed and then fluttered open again, this time completely aware of his surroundings.

"Why," said Severus without preamble, as Amanda drew herself a chair several feet away and plopped down in it, looking pale and disturbed. "Why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realize that. Why even touch it?"

The ring of Marvolo Gaunt sat on the desk before Dumbledore. The ring was cracked and the sword of Gryffindor lay beside it. Amanda remembered searching through Voldemort's memory for that ring. She grimaced, another thing she had done to hurt the ones she loved. Dumbledore also grimaced, though for completely different reasons.

"I… was a fool. Sorely tempted…"

"Tempted by what?"

Amanda wondered the same thing, what had tempted Dumbledore, and how did it relate to Ariana? But Dumbledore did not answer.

"It is a miracle you even managed to return here!" Snape sounded furious. "That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power; to contain it is all we can hope for –"

Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and examined it with the expression of one being shown an interesting curio. His gaze flickered beyond his hand to Amanda, who was still staring at the wall with a blank, pale face.

"I am surprised to see you here, Amy," he said calmly.

_Amy, so that's who I am,_ she thought, finally turning back to look at them.

"Blame the bird," she said softly, pointing a finger at Fawkes, who was still sitting on her shoulder.

"I am sorry you were disturbed," he said, looking mildly surprised that Fawkes had brought her, "but I am afraid I need to speak with Severus."

Amanda stood up and nodded to both of them, being careful not to dislodge Fawkes. Severus signaled for her to wait for him and she nodded once again before exiting the room. She walked down the stairs and drew herself another chair in the hallway. She collapsed gratefully into it with her legs hanging over one armrest and her head propped up on the other, Fawkes relocated to standing just next to her head and peering down at her, his large dark eyes never once blinking.

Amanda closed her eyes and slipped into thought. She wasn't Ariana, no matter how much she may have looked like her when she was little. Ariana lost herself, Amanda had not. But they were similar. Dumbledore had said that Ariana had been curious and had asked for stories about Hogwarts every chance she got, just like Amanda had. Ariana had been attacked at a young age and lost her mental health, while Amanda had been attacked much later and lost her physical health instead of her sanity.

Fawkes crooned again, dragging her out of her thoughts, and Amanda heard the grating of stone that announced someone had left Dumbledore's office. Remembering that Severus had said to wait for him Amanda opened her eyes only to be met, not by the dark eyes of Severus Snape, but the bright blue eyes of Dumbledore. He gazed down at her with sad eyes and Amanda gazed up at him with tired ones. It suddenly dawned on Amanda just how alike their eyes were, Ariana must have had those eyes too. She suddenly hated her eyes; the ones that made her look like someone dearly missed. If she died would Dumbledore miss her or those eyes, or would he even care? Of course he would care, Dumbledore cared about everyone.

Lost in her own thoughts Amanda didn't notice as her gaze turned into a steady glare, not at Dumbledore, but at nothing in particular.

"May I ask what I said?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes curious.

"Excuse me?"

"Severus informs me that you were perfectly fine until I, in my delirious state, said something to you,"

"Oh," she said, "yeah."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow when she didn't continue.

"What did I say, Amy?"

"Did she have your eyes?" Amanda asked, catching him off guard. "Because people always say I have your eyes and if she has your eyes then I'd have her eyes and then I could see how you'd get us confused –"

Dumbledore held up a hand to stop her babbling, not his bad hand, and moved her legs over so that he could sit by her. Amanda straightened up so that they were side by side and turned so they would be facing each other.

"I know you are not my sister," he started, moving her hair out of her face. "But you are everything I imagine she could have become, had she been given the chance. But you are also you," he added, turning her face up to look at him, "and you make me prouder then I could ever have imagined. You just need to work on that self-esteem issue of yours." He added, tweaking her nose.

She loved Dumbledore, he would have made someone such a great father. When she was little she'd been convinced they were related, they had the same eyes, she looked like his family, and he'd been around so often that it had made sense in her mind. But they weren't, no matter how nice it would have been.

Amanda smiled softly at him but then tilted her head in confusion, struck by a sudden thought.

"Where's Severus?" The grim look returned to Dumbledore's eyes when she mentioned Severus.

"He left," Dumbledore said, "through my fireplace."

Amanda thought that was odd, why hadn't he come this way to talk to her? Had he forgotten he told her to wait? Or maybe he had just wanted her to wait so that Dumbledore could talk to her? Amanda didn't really know but she let it slide and stood up.

"Well," she said, "I think you could do with some rest, I know I could. I'm going to go get my stuff and return to my room here."

"Since when have you told me what to do?" he asked, looking amused.

"Since you started doing things like that," she retorted, pointing to his hand. "Go to bed, and leave your plottings about the rest of us be, it can wait until morning."

"Very well," he said, an amused smile lightening his features. "However, if it convenient to you, I would like your assistance in picking up Harry Potter from his Aunt and Uncles domicile, and then again afterwards, when we shall, if matters go according to plan, be acquiring our new Potions Professor."

"You are replacing Severus?" she asked, startled.

"I have given him the Defense against the Dark Arts position."

"Is there any chance I could have the Potions position," she said hopefully, "and we could acquire a Charms professor?"

"I am afraid not," said Dumbledore, smiling as if he knew exactly what she had been thinking.

"Then maybe Severus could do Charms and I could do Defense against the Dark Arts?" Amanda put on her biggest smile; she really wanted to move on from Charms. "It is, after all, what I spent eleven years teaching."

"I am afraid not," he said.

Amanda wasn't surprised, that last one had been a bit of a stretch for even her imagination.

"Just crush my hopes like that," she said dramatically.

"Good night, Amy."

"Fine, good night," she said, still using that over dramatic tone. "I'm off to bed before someone crushes those dreams too."

Dumbledore chuckled and got up, watching her walk down the hall and out of sight, her long black braid swishing around her hips. He worried about her sometimes, he knew Amanda could take care of herself but she was always trying to prove herself and something always seemed to get in the way and push her right over the edge.

**Aw, thank you guys so much. And no, I am not going to end on a happy ending. I mean, maybe it'll be happy, I haven't written it yet, but I'm not going to just be like "oh and they lived happily ever after, blah…" Ok guys, I checked and I actually only have about two more chapters written, it's so sad. So really, now's the time to tell me if you have any cool ideas, I welcome them.**

**O and I realize that bit with Dumbledore may lead some of you to think they're related, but they aren't. I've always thought Dumbledore and McGonagall belong together, but not in this story… sorry.**


	43. New recruits!

At exactly eleven o' clock on a Friday night Amanda and Dumbledore appeared with a crack at the end of Privet Drive. She wasn't entirely sure what her purpose was, it wasn't as if a few muggles would be able to hold Dumbledore off, and he hadn't told her who the professor they were picking up was. Amanda looked at the house with disdain, immaculate lawn, perfectly trimmed hedges, from a muggle it just screamed that they had too much time on their hands and couldn't think of anything productive to do. Dumbledore just smiled and pressed is finger to the doorbell, which seemed to set off some yelling from inside.

The door opened to reveal a rather large man with a thick neck and a bushy black mustache in what appeared to be a puce dressing gown and wearing an expression of utmost disbelief.

"Good evening," said Dumbledore, smiling brightly. "You must be Mr. Dursley. I daresay Harry has told you we would be coming for him?"

The look of disbelief did not vanish from the large mans face and Amanda could see Harry, crouched on the steps, with an expression somewhere between amusement and guilt.

"Judging by your look of stunned disbelief, Harry did _not_ warn you that we were coming," said Dumbledore pleasantly. "However, let us assume that you have invited us warmly into your house. It is unwise to linger on doorsteps in these troubled times."

He stepped smartly over the threshold and Amanda followed, closing the door behind her.

"It has been a long time since my last visit," said Dumbledore, peering down his crooked nose at Mr. Dursley. "I must say, your agapanthus are flourishing."

Vernon Dursley said nothing. It was obvious that he wouldn't remain silent forever, however, the vein pulsing in the mans temple seemed to be reaching its danger point, but something about their appearance seemed to stupefy him. Perhaps it was their obvious wizard attire, they were both wearing long dark cloaks and Dumbledore even had a pointed hat upon his silvery head. It might also have been the fact that Dumbledore looked like a person who it would be very hard to bully. Amanda personally thought that it was just because the man was too shocked by Dumbledore's polite but forceful intrusion. Whatever the reason, Amanda knew she still didn't like him, not when she looked at what she'd heard and observed for herself.

"Ah, good evening Harry," said Dumbledore, looking up at the boy through his half moon glasses with a most satisfied expression. "Excellent, excellent."

These words seemed to revive Harry's uncle, finally rendering him capable of speech.

"I don't mean to be rude –" he began, in a tone that threatened rudeness in every syllable. Amanda bristled inwardly at the threatening way he was looking at Dumbledore, not that she had any worries about him getting injured, she just didn't like it.

"– yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often," she finished the sentence gravely, before turning away from the man coldly.

"Best to say nothing at all, my dear man. Ah, and this must be Petunia."

The kitchen door had opened, and there stood what must be Harry's aunt, wearing rubber gloves and a housecoat over her nightdress. Her face rather resembled a horse and registered nothing but shock.

"Albus Dumbledore and Amanda McGonagall," said Dumbledore, when Mr. Dursley failed to offer an introduction. "We have corresponded, of course. And this must be your son, Dudley?"

A rather fat boy in striped pajamas had poked his fat head around the corner. Amanda tried to find a resemblance between him and Harry, but there was none to be found. Harry was pale, lanky, and had dark hair and brilliant green eyes, Dudley, on the other hand, was short, fat, had blonde hair that contrasted sharply with his red face, and beady little eyes, just like his mother. Dumbledore waited a moment or two, as if waiting to see if any of the Dursleys were going to say anything, but as the silence stretched on he smiled.

"Shall we assume that you have invited us into your sitting room?"

Dudley scrambled out of the way as Dumbledore and Amanda passed him and looked positively frightened when Amanda glanced his way. Harry, still clutching a telescope and trainers, jumped down the last few stairs and followed them. Dumbledore settled himself into the armchair nearest the fireplace and started looking around the room with an expression of benign interest. Amanda stood beside him. The immaculate room looked as if it was made to scream 'normal,' she and Dumbledore certainly looked out of place.

"Aren't – aren't we leaving, sir?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Yes, indeed we are, but there are a few matters we need to discuss first," said Dumbledore. "And I would prefer not to do so in the open. We shall trespass upon your aunt and uncle's hospitality only a little longer."

"You will, will you?"

Vernon Dursley had entered the room, Petunia at his shoulder, and Dudley sulking behind them both.

"Yes," said Dumbledore simply, "we shall."

Dumbledore withdrew his wand so rapidly that Amanda barely saw it; with a casual flick, the sofa zoomed forward and knocked the knees out from under all three Dursleys so that they collapsed upon it in a heap. Another flick and the sofa returned to its original position.

"We may as well be comfortable," said Dumbledore pleasantly.

"Sir – what happened to your –"

"Later, Harry," said Dumbledore, "Please sit down."

Harry took the remaining armchair. Amanda lighted carefully down on the arm rest next to Dumbledore, she would have remained standing but the Dursleys looked scared enough and the blonde boy kept looking at her as though he was afraid she was going to eat him, as if she could eat that much.

"I would assume that you were going to offer refreshment," said Dumbledore to Mr. Dursley, "but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness."

A third twitch of the wand, and a dusty bottle and six glasses appeared in midair. The bottle tipped and poured a generous measure of honey-colored liquid into each of the glasses, which then floated to each person in the room.

"Madame Rosmerta's finest oak-matured mead," said Dumbledore, raising his glass to Harry, who caught hold of his own and sipped.

The Dursley, after quick, scared looks at one another, tried to ignore their glasses completely, a difficult feat, as they were nudging them gently on the sides of their heads. Amanda briefly wondered if Dumbledore was enjoying himself as much as she was, the barely suppressed smile on Harry's face showed that he obviously was.

"Well, Harry," said Dumbledore, turning toward him, "a difficulty has arisen which I hope you will be able to solve for us. By us, I mean the Order of the Phoenix. But first of all I must tell you that Sirius's will was discovered a week ago and he left you everything he owned."

This was almost true anyways; Sirius had left her a large, wicked looking knife with a note saying 'kill the bastard if I don't get to it.' Amanda had been touched. The knife was perfect; it had a long silvery handle with a deep blue sapphire set just below the gleaming blade. She fingered the knife absentmindedly, she kept in the pocket of her robes, and thought about how genuinely concerned he'd seemed when she'd shown him her scar. Her and Sirius had actually had some interesting conversations when he hadn't been riding her about Severus, they'd even worked together on a few of the pranks she'd let lose.

Amanda sighed inwardly and started focusing on the conversation again. Kreacher had already appeared and vanished again, she could only assume that Harry had found a place for him, and now Dumbledore was explaining about Buckbeak, now named 'Witherwings.'

"Now," said Dumbledore, "Harry, is your trunk packed?"

"Erm…"

"Doubtful that we would turn up?" Dumbledore asked shrewdly.

"I'll just – er – finish off," said Harry hastily, hurrying to pick up his fallen telescope and trainers.

A few minutes passed while Harry was upstairs and Amanda began to feel fidgety. The room was too clean and she was tired of the looks she was getting from the Dursleys, the Dudley boy in particular, he hadn't take his eyes off of her since he walked in.

"Albus," she said, standing up, "would you mind if I waited outside?"

"Certainly not, if that is what you wish."

The Dursleys did not seem to enjoy this idea. Mr. Dursley jumped up, his face red, and shook a finger in Amanda's face.

"I will not have her standing in front of _our_ house like some sort of –"

"Freak?" Amanda supplied, somehow managing to look down her nose at the man who towered at least a foot above her. "I assure you, none of your neighbors will notice me."

With that she slipped past them and swept out the front door and into the night. None of the muggles would be able to see her, the street lights had winked out the moment they had arrived in Private Drive. She wondered about that; if all the street lights on her street had gone out she knew she'd be pressing her face to the window, trying to see what was going on. Perhaps it was because most muggles tended to shut out anything inexplicable because, as far as they knew, inexplicable things just meant you were going mad.

Amanda moved down the garden path and sat on the curb. The enchantments of safety Dumbledore had placed on the house didn't extend quite that far but she didn't care, if anyone attacked her she was ready, and besides, there was no way Dumbledore wouldn't notice if someone started a duel with her in front of the very house he was sitting in. It wasn't likely that anyone would attack, seeing as they had to have seen Dumbledore just a few minutes ago, but she almost wished they would; she was incredibly bored and she missed Severus as well.

She hadn't seen him since that night a few weeks ago when Fawkes had brought her to Dumbledore's office. He had to have moved back into his rooms by now but she hadn't seen him. Lack of Severus and Dumbledore's insistence that she remain where he could keep an eye on her had given her too little to do and too much free time, something she wasn't used to. It had gotten so bad that she had gone all the way down to Severus's office just to see if he'd arrived and she'd just missed him, but every time she checked the door was still locked.

A long sigh escaped her lips as the door opened and light once again flooded the yard. She stood up and the three of them set off down Private Drive.

"Keep your wand at the ready, Harry," said Dumbledore brightly.

"But I thought I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school, sir?"

"If there is an attack," said Dumbledore, "I give you permission to use and counterjinx or curse that might occur to you. However, I do not think you need to worry about being attacked tonight."

"Why not, sir?

"You are with me," said Dumbledore simply. "This swill do, Harry. You have not, of course, passed your Apparition test."

"No," said Harry, "I thought you had to be seventeen?"

"You do," said Dumbledore. "So if Professor McGonagall does not mind?"

"Of course not," she said, holding her arm out to Harry.

"You will need to hold on to her arm very tightly."

Harry gripped Amanda's proffered forearm.

"Very good," said Dumbledore, "Well, here we go."

A loud crack that none of the three of them could hear split the night and then they were back, having appeared in what looked to be a deserted village square.

"Are you alright?" asked Dumbledore, looking down at Harry solicitously. "The sensation does take some getting used to."

"I'm fine," said Harry, rubbing his ear. "But I think I might prefer brooms…"

Dumbledore smiled, pulled his traveling cloak a little more tightly around his neck, and said, "This way please."

Amanda was already several yards ahead of them, looking around at houses and keeping an eye out for anything amiss; if she had become paranoid it wasn't without cause. The tip of her wand was at her fingers, hanging loosely in her sleeve like always. After walking in front of them for awhile Amanda slowed, letting them catch up and joining the conversation just in time to hear Harry attempt to ask Dumbledore once more about his arm.

"Professor, what happened to your –?"

"I have no time to explain now," said Dumbledore. "It is a thrilling tale, I wish to do it justice."

Amanda herself had yet to ask Dumbledore about it, though she knew it had something to do with Gaunt's ring; if he intended to tell her then he would have done so already.

"Sir – I got a Ministry of Magic leaflet by owl, about security measures we should all take against the Death Eaters…"

"Yes, I received one myself," said Dumbledore, still smiling. "Did you find it useful?"

"Not really?"

"No, I thought not. You have not asked us, for instance, what our favorite flavor of jam is, to check that we are indeed Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and not some impostors."

Amanda thought it highly unlikely that anyone would ever be able to impersonate Dumbledore; he just radiated a sense of power that couldn't be copied.

"I didn't…" Harry began, not sure whether he was being reprimanded or not.

"For future reference, Harry, it is raspberry… although of course, if I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself."

"I thought you were more of a blackberry person," said Amanda.

"Really?" said Dumbledore, raising an eyebrow.

"Well you always served it when you invited me to join you."

"I thought it was your jam of preference," he said.

"Oh, I'm actually more of a grape person myself."

"I'll be sure to remember that," said Dumbledore, looking very much as if he meant it.

It suddenly dawned on Amanda that they were walking up a dark street, with every possibility of being attacked, and they were talking about their _jam_ _preferences_.

"Er… right," said Harry. "Well, on that leaflet, it said something about Inferi. What exactly are they? The leaflet wasn't very clear."

"They are corpses," said Dumbledore. "Dead bodies that have been bewitched to do a Dark wizard's bidding. Inferi have not been seen for a long time, however, not since Voldemort was last powerful… He killed enough people to make an army of them, of course. This is the place, Harry, just here…"

They were nearing a small, neat stone house set in its own garden. Dumbledore and Amanda stopped dead at the front gate, causing Harry to walk into them.

"Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear," said Dumbledore.

The front door was hanging off its hinges.

"Wand out and follow me, Harry," said Dumbledore quietly.

He opened the gate and walked swiftly and silently up the garden path. In the sitting room a scene of total destruction met their eyes. A grandfather clock lay splintered at their feet, its face cracked, its pendulum lying a little farther away like a dropped sword. A piano was on its side, its keys strewn across the floor. The wreckage of a fallen chandelier glittered nearby. Fragments of glass and china lay like powder over everything. Something darkly red and glutinous was spattered over the wallpaper.

Amanda approached the blood on the walls carefully, studying at it intently. Behind her Harry gasped.

"Not pretty, is it?" said Dumbledore heavily. "Yes, something horrible has happened here."

Amanda was starting to wonder what could have happened. It couldn't have been a Death Eater attack, they would have left the Dark Mark hovering over the house, and there was something wrong with the blood on the walls.

"Maybe there was a fight and – and they dragged him off, Professor?" Harry suggested.

"I don't think so," said Dumbledore quietly, peering behind an overstuffed armchair lying on its side.

"You mean he's –"

"Still in here somewhere? Yes."

And without warning, Dumbledore swooped, plunging the tip of his wand into the seat of the overstuffed armchair, which yelled, "Ouch!"

"Good evening, Horace," said Dumbledore, straightening up again.

Where a split second before there had been an armchair, there now crouched an enormously fat, bald, old man who was messaging his lower belly and squinting up at Dumbledore with an aggrieved and watery eye. Amanda tried not to curl a lip in aggravation, she had never become fond of Horace Slughorn, and she still thought he was a cheese.

"There was no need to stick the wand in that hard," he said gruffly, clambering to his feet. "It hurt."

He seemed remarkably unabashed for someone who had just been discovered pretending to be an armchair.

"What gave it away?"

"My dear Horace," said Dumbledore, looking amused, "if the Death Eaters really had come to call, the Dark Mark would have been set over the house."

"The Dark Mark," he muttered. "Knew there was something… ah well. Wouldn't have had time anyway, I'd only just put the finishing touches to my upholstery when you entered the room."

"Would you like assistance clearing up?" asked Dumbledore politely.

"Please," said the other.

Amanda joined them and they stood in a circle, the tall thin wizard, the short round one, and the short thin witch, and waved their wands in one identical sweeping motion.

The furniture flew back to its original places; ornaments reformed in midair, feathers zoomed into their cushions; torn books repaired themselves as they landed upon their shelves; oil lanterns soared onto side tables and reignited; a vast collection of splintered silver picture frames flew across the room and alighted, whole and untarnished, upon a desk; rips, cracks, and holes healed everywhere, and the walls wiped themselves clean.

"What kind of blood was that, incidentally?" asked Dumbledore.

"On the walls? Dragon," shouted Horace, as, with a deafening grinding and tinkling, the chandelier screwed itself back into the ceiling.

"Yes, dragon," repeated the wizard conversationally. "My last bottle, and prices are sky-high at the moment. Still, it might be reusable."

It was then that Slughorns gaze fell upon Harry.

"Oho," he said, his large round eyes flying to Harry's forehead and the lightning-shaped scar it bore. "_Oho_!"

"This," said Dumbledore, moving forward to make the introduction, "is Harry Potter. Harry, this is an old friend and colleague of mine, Horace Slughorn."

Slughorn turned on Dumbledore, his expression shrewd. "So that's how you thought you'd persuade me, is it? Well, the answer's no, Albus."

He pushed past Harry, his face turned resolutely away with the air of a man trying to resist temptation, and came face to face with Amanda, who looked as if she wanted nothing better then to not be there. Slughorn looked at her intently.

"You there," he said, poking a stubby finger in her direction, "you look familiar. Yes, I know you… yes, most definitely… McGonagall! Amanda McGonagall!"

He looked just as excited as the first time they had met, when he'd first discovered she was Minerva's daughter.

"Yes, yes!" he continued. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it? But here you are! One of my very best students! You had the makings of a great Potions Master, if only you'd continued to take the class."

Amanda neglected to point out that she had taken the class up again when he'd left and instead looked at Dumbledore in an accusatory manner, blaming him with her eyes for not telling her who they were here to pick up.

"Ah, yes," said Dumbledore, coming to her rescue with an amused smile. "I'd forgotten that you had taught Professor McGonagall."

"Professor?" said Slughorn. "Since when?"

"I started at Hogwarts last year, as the Charms Professor."

"See, now, you should have stuck with me, my dear. We could have gotten you teaching fresh out of school."

"Yes, well…"

Amanda didn't know what to say, she didn't want to talk to Slughorn about her past, nor did she feel like pointing out to him that she had, in fact, started teaching immediately upon leaving school. Luckily for her, Slughorn had rounded on Dumbledore.

"So, thought you'd get me with her? Well it's not going to work!"

"I suppose we can have a drink, at least?" asked Dumbledore. "For old time's sake?"

Slughorn hesitated.

"All right then, one drink," he said ungraciously.

Dumbledore smiled and directed Harry toward a chair not unlike the one that Slughorn had impersonated. Amanda took a seat next to him and Dumbledore sat across from her, leaving the only other seat available the one just in front of Harry, where Horace would have to stare at him. Indeed, when Slughorn turned around his eyes fell immediately upon Harry.

Amanda stared at the fire and tuned them out, listening just enough so that if anyone asked her a question she would be able to answer without looking completely foolish. It suddenly dawned on her that she'd been tuning out conversations a lot lately.

After a few moments Dumbledore got up, no doubt making some excuse so that he could leave and force Harry and Slughorn to talk. Dumbledore was definitely a sly one, he knew exactly what buttons to push to get people to do what he needed. She continued to tune them out, only looking away from the fire when Dumbledore had returned and he and Harry stood up.

"You're leaving?" said Slughorn, looking taken aback.

"Yes, indeed. I think I know a lost cause when I see one."

"Lost…?"

Slughorn seemed agitated. He twiddled his thumbs and fidgeted as he watched Dumbledore fasten his traveling cloak.

"Well, I'm sorry you don't want the job, Horace," said Dumbledore, raising his uninjured hand in farewell. "Hogwarts would have been glad to see you back again. Our greatly increased security notwithstanding, you will always be welcome to visit, should you wish to."

"Yes… well… very gracious… as I say…"

"Good-bye, then."

"Bye," said Harry.

They made it all the way to the front door before there was a shout behind them.

"All right, all right, I'll do it!"

"You will come out of retirement?"

"Yes, yes," said Slughorn impatiently. "I must be mad, but yes."

"Wonderful," said Dumbledore, beaming. "Then, Horace, we shall see you on the first of September."

"Yes, I daresay you will," grunted Slughorn. "I'll want a pay rise, Dumbledore!"

Dumbledore chuckled as they walked down the garden path, the gate swinging shut behind them.

"Well done, Harry," said Dumbledore.

"I didn't do anything," said Harry in surprise.

"Oh yes you did. You showed Horace exactly how much he stands to gain by returning to Hogwarts. Did you like him?"

"Er…"

"Don't worry about it Harry," Amanda said, rescuing him of the need to think about it. "Many people can't decide exactly what they think of Professor Slughorn."

"Did you have him, Professor?" Harry asked.

"Yes," she said, lips twitching, "I had that… experience."

"And what did you think of him, Professor?"

"I don't think I'm going to tell you," she said grimly, remembering that she'd threatened him if she heard him talking badly about her colleagues. "You will just have to see for yourself."

Dumbledore smiled and stopped walking.

"This will do," he said. "Harry, if you will take Professor McGonagall's arm."

Harry gripped her arm tightly, squeezing more fiercely this time. She smiled down at him before Appirating. When they reappeared they were standing in a country lane in front of the crooked building, fondly named, the Burrow.

"If you don't mind, Harry," said Dumbledore, "I'd like a few words with you before we go in. In private."

"If you will excuse me, Albus, Harry, I think I shall return to Hogwarts."

"Of course," said Dumbledore, "I will see you in the morning."

"See you at school, Professor," said Harry.

Amanda left them then, Appirating just outside the grounds of Hogwarts and slipping up the grounds and into the school.

**I just loved your guy's reviews, especially the ideas you posted. I have to say I was rather surprised; several of the ideas were things I had already written in, so I'm feeling much better about those plans! **

**Although I have to say this, the idea of having Severus make Amy deputy headmistress in the 7****th**** book is not one I even toyed with. Since we all know he isn't evil, we know that he has too much respect for the elder McGonagall to do that to her, besides, Amanda's too emotional, he knows very well she's not going to be in a fit state of mind after he off's Dumbledore. (I'm sorry if that seemed like I was bashing your idea, it's just that that's the way I believe things are and I thought I should share that thought so that no one would be surprised when that didn't happen.)**

**Thank you all, as always, for taking the time to post your thoughts, we broke 100 reviews! Yay!**


	44. Don't push me away

September first dawned bright and clear, and Amanda had never been so relieved when the bright red Hogwarts train rolled into the station. But the train had come and gone and she was still waiting for Hagrid, who was running very late.

The dark and peaceful grounds were suddenly lit as the great entrance doors opened. Amanda looked around quickly, wondering who, besides herself and Hagrid, would seek the chilly grounds over the warm sorting feast.

"Severus!" she called, walking briskly forward. "Congratulations on getting the Defense against the Dark Arts post."

Before he could say anything she moved forward and placed a small kiss on his lips, wrapping her arms around his waist and basking in his warmth. Severus didn't react; he just stood with his arms hanging at his sides and an unreadable look in his eyes. After a moment of just standing there Amanda saw his hand come up, almost as if he was going to stroke her cheek, but he stopped. His eyes hardened and he grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away gently.

"Go away, Amy," he said, already turning away and sweeping away down the grounds.

A sudden lump rose in her throat, preventing her from calling out to him, all she could do was watch him walk away into the darkness. And then he was gone. It wasn't fair, she'd just gotten him back! There had to be something going on, he wouldn't just push her away like that, he couldn't, not again.

The chilly night air suddenly seemed frigid, and she wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as she slid down the stone wall until she was sitting on the grass. It seemed Severus had decided what he wanted, and she wasn't it.

A dark shape lumbered up to her and Amanda looked up blankly.

"Y'all right there, Amy?" said the deep voice of Hagrid.

Amanda blinked up at him blearily and climbed to her feet.

"Of course," she said impassively, "why wouldn't I be? I'm just cold, let's get to the feast."

Amanda set off inside without waiting for Hagrid to speak and he followed her with large lumbering steps. She led him through the side door and squeezed in next to Professor Trelawney, who was for once making an appearance at the feast, leaving Hagrid to take the place between Trelawney and her mother.

Out of the corner of her eye Amanda saw Severus come in, sitting on the complete opposite end of the table. She ignored him, blocking out Trelawney, who was trying to tell her that a hidden secret would make her miserable for the next few weeks, and Professor Sprout, who wasn't trying to talk to her anyways, and picked at her food, trying not to glare at it. So caught up in staring blankly at her plate was she that she didn't even notice that Dumbledore had started to speak until he had waved his arms and dismissed them all from the hall.

Amanda blinked rapidly and looked around, most of the other professors were just getting up but she noticed that Severus had already left. She stood up and walked briskly off to her own room, prepared to spend a long and restless night alone.

It was with blood shot eyes that Amanda entered the great hall the following morning for breakfast. She noticed that Severus hadn't arrived and sighed, poking at her eggs without much fervor. After just a few minutes of poking food around on her plate Amanda sighed and deciding that she could at least be productive in her office, slipped from the head table and started making her way down the long house tables.

Halfway down the Gryffindor table, however, she had to stop and wait, Professor McGonagall was speaking to Potter and Longbottom and they were blocking the aisle.

"I'm sorry; Longbottom, but I cannot let you into my N.E.W.T. class. I see that you have an 'Exceeds Expectations' in Charms, however – why not try for a N.E.W.T. in Charms?"

"My grandmother thinks Charms is a soft option," mumbled Neville.

"Take, Charms," said Professor McGonagall, "and I shall drop Augusta a line reminding her that just because she failed her Charms O.W.L., the subject is not necessarily worthless. Especially the way it was taught last year," she said seriously. Amanda chuckled lightly and tapped her mother on the shoulder.

"Thank you, for that assessment," she said, "but would you mind scooting over for a moment? And yes, Neville, I would be delighted to continue teaching you in Charms, should you choose to take it."

She smiled faintly at the look of delighted incredulity on Neville's face and moved on, sweeping up to her classroom and sitting quietly behind the desk. By the time her class entered she wasn't smiling anymore, all her mind could seem to focus on was Severus. It was like that the whole day, every time she managed to find something to distract her, her mind would snap back to Severus the moment she stopped. If her older students noticed that their teacher was a bit distracted they just put it down to start of the year chaos and for that Amanda was grateful, she just couldn't seem to pull it together.

This went on for weeks. She tried to talk to Severus, to at least find out why he'd pushed her away, but he would always deflect her or start speaking to another teacher, something that confused poor Professor Sprout to the point that she dropped a bag of fertilizer that she had been carrying all over Amanda's feet. He wasn't even avoiding her; he just treated her like everyone else. He always called her by her title, refused to look her in the eyes, and treated her with the same cruelty he treated anyone else. It was worse then if he _had_ been ignoring her; at least if he were ignoring her he would inadvertently be acknowledging their past friendship. Amanda tried to put on a strong front, she would insult Severus right back when he insulted her and pretended that his words meant nothing, but inside she was breaking. Each harsh word felt like a blow to the face.

Unfortunately for the students, Severus was being almost cruel to them in his classes, scaring the living daylights out of most of his younger students. In the past when students would come to her classroom after having had a bad lesson with Snape Amanda would employ a slight Cheering Charm to get them focused so they wouldn't make mistakes, now, however, frightened students who came to her class were likely to leave frightened as well.

Dumbledore had even vanished. He would disappear for days without telling them where he was going and return looking tired and often dissatisfied. Not even Minerva seemed to know where he was disappearing to. Amanda had taken to sitting in his study with Fawkes on her shoulder; someone had to take care of the phoenix when Dumbledore was away.

Standing in Dumbledore's office and brushing Fawkes plumage gave Amanda an excellent view of the grounds through one of his large windows and tending to Fawkes was one of the few peaceful times Amanda had during the day, so she took to it with fervor, often staying hours just to speak to the intelligent bird.

"I bet Dumbledore will be back soon," she said quietly, stroking his feathers back into place.

Fawkes just crooned in acknowledgment and Amanda looked out the window. Someone was walking, more like stumbling, up the grounds. She squinted her eyes and gasped, just as the person fell down and didn't get up.

Fawkes squawked loudly as Amanda raced away, heading down the stairs as fast as she could to get to whoever was outside. Her slippered feet made little noise as she walked briskly down the stone hallways in her silken robe. The halls were empty apart from her, the ghosts and Filch must have been in another part of the school and anyone else who was out and about would certainly not give themselves away by asking a teacher what they were out doing.

Amanda slipped quickly out the great doors, flooding the grounds with light for just a moment, and approached the collapsed person. With a sudden pang Amanda realized who it was, Severus. She stopped dead. There was no way she wanted to help him after the way he'd been acting.

A soft groan escaped Severus's lips and Amanda closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and approached. She flicked her wand at him without looking and carried him to the castle, intending to use the side door, only to find that the door wouldn't open. Amanda tried blasting it, charming it, even kicking the door a few times, but it wouldn't budge.

After standing in the cold night air for a few minutes and then hearing Severus groan once again Amanda made up her mind. She levitated Severus into the castle and up to her room. She had to carry him up the narrow, winding staircase. He was heavy, and blood was seeping into her clothes.

At last Amanda managed to set him on the bed and removed his shirt, reminded almost instantly of the last time, when they'd been forced apart over a simple miscommunication. Somehow she doubted that that was what this was, however, Severus knew exactly why he'd decided to push her away, she just wished she knew why.

Severus was bleeding from a long gash across his ribs; it looked like whatever had hit him had also broken several of his ribs in the process. She numbed the area and fixed the bones, being in the hospital wing so often had taught her a few things. She managed to seal the wound as well, it would be tender, and he would have a heck of a bruise for awhile, but Severus would be fine, as long as she didn't strangle him in his sleep for the way he'd been acting.

Amanda shook her head and slipped off her robe, it was covered in blood. She pulled in a t-shirt and walked out, situating herself in one of her armchairs and staring blankly at the fire. Severus would just have to deal with her in the morning or jump out the window. A yawn forced itself from Amanda's lips, or perhaps he would wake up and sneak out while she was asleep. A few minutes later and Amanda was fast asleep, the fire still crackling in front of her.

Severus awoke in a sweat and sat up, regretting it as soon as his ribs gave off a rather nasty wave of pain. He stood up gingerly and looked around, quickly realizing with dread that he was in Amanda's room. This was the third time she had found him unconscious on the grounds, and the second time when they hadn't been on speaking terms.

His torn and blood soaked shirt lay discarded on the floor and he left it there, it was useless now anyways. He hesitated at the door, he didn't want to face Amanda, didn't want to see the look in her eyes, didn't want to see her and be unable to say what he wanted to say to her.

A moment later he walked through the door with every intention of walking straight through to the other door and down the stairs. But then he stopped.

"Amy," he murmured.

She was laying in one of those ridiculously large armchairs of hers, loose strands of hair falling into her face. Her face was turned toward the fire, as if she'd been staring at it until she'd fallen asleep. He walked over until he was just in front of her and crouched down, his hand reaching out on its own accord to touch her soft skin. He brushed the back of his fingers lightly over her cheek, marveling at the smoothness of her skin. He brushed over her forehead, ghosted over he eyelids and traced his fingers down her jaw line softly and then down her neck. The collar of her shirt prevented him from seeing if she was still wearing the necklace he'd given her and he wondered briefly what she'd done with it. He could see the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and felt a sudden ache in his chest. His hand brushed down and pushed the collar of her shirt down until his fingers found the necklace, the tips of his fingers resting for just a moment on the soft bud of her breast, before he pulled it out.

"Amy," he murmured once again, watching the firelight reflect off the large sapphire.

He'd missed her, more then he could ever have imagined. He'd missed her witty remarks, the soft way she said his name, so unlike anyone else, the way her eyes twinkled, so much like Dumbledore's, he'd missed the feel of her skin, the softness of her hair, her full rosy lips.

His fingers slid back up her neck to her lips, his thumb running along each one before moving back to her soft cheek, pale even in the firelight. One of his fingers brushed against her eyebrow and he suddenly frowned, remembering how she'd looked these past few weeks.

Her eyes had been dull, her voice no longer sharp. She'd stopped looking him in the eye after awhile and had started staring blankly in his direction when he'd insulted her. She'd stared blankly at everything, he remembered. Students had noticed and gossiped amongst each other about why their teacher was always so distracted looking. Other Professors had noticed and tried to ask her about it, but Amanda had always just said that she had a lot on her mind at the moment. When he'd taken his anger out on his students by being harsher then ever, no one had asked him what was wrong, they'd just assumed he was just being himself, only Amanda would have noticed and asked, but he hadn't given her the chance this time.

Severus did not notice when Amanda's eyes opened, nor did he notice when her hand came up to grasp his own, he was so lost in his thought.

"Why are you hurting me like this?" she said, in a soft, hoarse voice.

Severus was shocked into answering truthfully.

"I'm not trying to hurt you."

"Then why are you?" she said, not even sounding angry, just calm. "After all we've been through, how could you treat me like this?"

"It's for the best," he said, remembering what he would have to do before the year was out. "I could only ever hurt you."

"You're hurting me now, more then you ever could."

"You won't feel like that one day," he said ruthlessly. "One day you will ask yourself why you didn't see it before, I am a heartless monster"

"You are no monster."

"How can you say that?" he said, anger evident in his voice. "After you saw what I did to lily?"

He tried to pull his hand away but she held fast.

"Everyone makes mistakes," she said softly. "I saw you try to protect her. You even went to Dumbledore, the one man even more fearful then your master, and asked his help, you pledged to do anything to fix your mistake."

"That doesn't change who I am."

"You're right, it _is_ who you are."

"Don't do this Amy, one day I will get you killed."

She turned slightly, so that he could see her eyes, so dull, but sparkling fiercely in the firelight.

"I don't care."

"You don't care that you'll die?"

"Why should I care if no one else does?"

"Everyone will care! Your mother, Dumbledore, the students, the Weasely's –"

"But will you?"

"Of course!"

"Then don't push me away."

"I don't want to hurt you," he repeated, hoping that she would just sigh and give up. "Why must you be so stubborn?" he added angrily.

"It sounds like you're going to hurt me either way, let me enjoy what we have left. And you're just as stubborn as me sometimes."

There was silence while Severus thought. He wanted her back, he wanted to hold her tight and protect her. He wanted her to be his and no one else's. But she would never forgive him for what Dumbledore had asked him to do, she would move on to someone else and he would be forced to watch until deaths hand took him away.

Severus sighed and picked her up, carrying her toward her room.

"Severus," she started.

Amanda could feel tears pricking at her eyes, she had failed. He was going to leave her again.

"Sh," he said, pulling the blankets up around her and then disappearing from view.

A moment later the bed moved as a new weight was added to it. Something warm wrapped around Amanda's waist and pulled her backwards until something equally warm was pressed against her back. She could feel his warm breath against her neck.

"Go to sleep Amy," he said.

Amanda grabbed the hand that was on her waist, holding it tightly to her and closed her eyes. She prayed that he would still be there when she woke, that this wasn't some sort of dream that would end, leaving her feeling once again miserable.

Severus felt Amanda's breathing steady as she fell into sleep, probably the first real sleep she had gotten in weeks, much like himself. He would hold her while he still could, and he would do everything in his power to protect her, even when she despised him. He nuzzled his head into her shoulder and breathed in her scent, smirking when he heard her soft moan.

At last sleep caught up to him and Severus drifted into unconsciousness, his breathing almost in perfect time to Amanda's. They slept peacefully for the remainder of the night and well into the next day, the sun casting playful and colorful shadows over them both long before either of them awoke.


	45. love ya!

Severus woke first. He propped himself up on his elbow so that he could look around and Amanda instinctively curled up into the space he had left for warmth. He reached down and started to stroke her cheek once again, she looked so peaceful when she slept, he was glad she'd talked to him last night. Amanda's eyes flickered open and she smiled up at him softly before reaching up to brush his hair behind his ears so she could see his eyes better.

"Good morning," she whispered.

Severus leaned down, keeping one hand by her head to hold himself up, until he was right above her, his lips millimeters from hers.

"Good morning," he whispered, their lips brushing slightly.

Amanda reached up those last few millimeters and kissed him, savoring the feeling of his lips moving against hers. She ran her tongue along the inside of his lip and felt him lower himself further, pinning her between him and the bed. Severus deepened the kiss and his knee came up between her legs, pressing against her. Amanda could feel herself growing warm and gasped at the heat that ran up and down her body.

Severus smirked a bit and moved his attention to her neck, teasing the soft flesh with his lips, tongue, and teeth. Amanda's breath hitched and she couldn't hold in the little whimpers of pleasure that escaped her lips. Her fingers reached up and entwined in Severus's hair, holding him over her.

He suddenly leaned back, pulling her up with him so that they were both sitting, his knee still pressing firmly between Amanda's legs.

"Are you going to take that shirt off?" he whispered into her ear, sending waves of pleasure down Amanda's spine. "Or am I going to have to do it for you?"

Amanda immediately began fumbling with her shirt, tugging it off quickly and throwing it on the floor. Severus's hands slid up her back, his nimble fingers pulling her bra free and then sliding the straps from her shoulders, throwing the bra away and keeping his eye locked with Amanda's.

Her heart thudded painfully in her chest and she shivered slightly in front of his gaze. The weeks without him had been horrible, but now, now she couldn't imagine a night without him.

Without warning Severus lunged forward, pinning her up against the wall with his knee still pressing into her. One hand was under her butt, holding her up a little and the other went to her left breast, massaging and teasing at the nipple. Severus leaned in and took the other with his mouth, leaving Amanda gasping and grasping at his shoulders to hold herself up. His ear was right in front of her and Amanda leaned forward, taking is earlobe and nibbling on it experimentally. She felt him gasp and continued, running her tongue along the outside edge and then licking softly and the tender flesh just in front of it. She blew into it softly and felt him shudder with pleasure under her.

The motion of his movements kept rocking her into his leg between hers and her breathing hitched even more, the pleasure from so many different areas was overwhelming, but she wanted more, she needed him inside her.

Her hands trailed down to his pants, where she began pulling them loose frantically. She felt him smirk against her breast.

"Impatient, are we?"

Severus pulled back and discarded his pants. He grabbed her and pulled her back down under him, his hand resting on them hem of her pants. She smiled at him in reassurance and he pulled down her shorts, pulling them from her long legs and throwing them on the floor next to his own pants. He caught her hands and held them down at her sides, a smirk once again forming on his lips when he saw the state she was in.

Amanda shuddered; she could feel his breath on her as he looked at her state but did nothing about it for a long moment.

"Severus…" she said, begging.

His hands left her wrists and he pulled down her panties, revealing her to his sight slowly, torturously slow. He could feel her shaking under him with anticipation, want and need. He wasn't going to make her wait much longer; he couldn't wait much longer himself.

Amanda grabbed him, pulling him forward and pressing her lips to his, she had to have him, now. He stayed still for a moment, teasing her, and then, without warning, he thrust into her. She screamed out his name, her back arching to be closer to him. Her breathing was hard and erratic in his ear, and she moaned when he moved faster.

But he took his time, he brought them to the brink and back again, Amanda fought him, wrapping her legs around his waist and moving her own hips in time to his own, forcing him to take them over the edge. She screamed out his name once more and he moaned loudly, she was his!

Amanda put a hand to his chest and smiled, his heart was beating just as fast as hers. Severus rolled over, breathing heavily, and pulled her to him. His arms wrapped around her waist and he kissed her forehead softly. Black eyes met blue as Amanda snuggled closer to him, now that her body was cooling down she realized just how cold the room was. Severus tightened his grip and closed his eyes, resting his chin in her hair.

"What happens if I say 'good morning' again?" Amanda whispered, a smirk evident in her voice.

Severus smiled, a true smile, and looked down at her. She looked so innocent, and yet… He kissed her softly. She was still panting, her body shaking violently.

"What do you have to do today?" he asked.

"It's a Hogsmeade weekend; I have to chaperon a bit."

"No doubt the students are incapable of staying out of trouble, but they manage to do so quite well whether we watch them or not."

"Are you trying to say something, professor?" she asked, smiling teasingly.

"Skip," he said bluntly.

"I was thinking about it."

Just then there was a knock on the door, completely ruining the moment. Amanda shot up, looked around for some clothes, and then blushed scarlet when she saw Severus looking and tried to cover herself. Severus grumbled loudly and turned around. A moment later there was a weight on the bed next to him, Amanda, now fully clothed, reached down and captured his lips for a moment before breaking away. She left the room quickly as the knocking continued, closing the door behind her firmly.

"Enter," she called.

The door opened to reveal Minerva McGonagall, her hair pulled into a tight bun behind her head and a pointy green hat hiding the rest.

"Good morning, mother."

"Good afternoon, I should think, lunch ended almost an hour ago. Have you been sleeping this entire time?"

"Guilty," said Amanda fairly. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I just came up to see if you hadn't gone down to Hogsmeade yet, I was thinking I would accompany you."

_Liar_, thought Amanda, her mother had come up to see if Amanda was so lost in whatever was bothering her that she forgot she was supposed to chaperone that afternoon.

"Of course," she said, keeping her thoughts to herself. "Just allow me to get my cloak."

Amanda retreated back to her bedroom, closing the door carefully behind her. She walked over to Severus and tried to give him a quick kiss, but he grabbed her waist and pulled her down, making her shriek in surprise. He laughed and let go, leaving Amanda to grab her cloak and hurry out into the front room where her mother was waiting with a puzzled look on her face.

"Are you okay?"

"I fell down," Amanda said dryly.

Minerva raised an eyebrow but walked out of the room anyways, leaving Amanda to follow her down the stairs. Amanda started humming pleasantly to herself, feeling better then she had in a long time now that she knew what Severus's problem had been. Or at least, she had a general idea, she had no idea what the cause of it was.

"You're obviously feeling better today," remarked Minerva.

"Oh?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Amanda," her mother said, "you've been distracted and gloomy since school started, and now you're humming."

"A good sleep will do wonders for the body," Amanda said, quoting something Dumbledore had often said.

"You and I both know that's not what happened."

They had reached the gates now, and were climbing into the carriages as Amanda answered.

"And what do you think happened?"

Minerva waited until the carriage had started moving again before she spoke.

"I think someone came and cheered you up this morning, and I'm starting to get concerned about why you won't tell me who."

Had Amanda been drinking something, it would have been the perfect time to do a spit take, but, alas, she had nothing to choke on but air.

"Trust me," she said, sounding believable, "no one came to cheer me up this morning."

It was true, after a fashion, Severus had arrived late last night, and he certainly had not been intending to cheer her up.

Her mother gave her a long look, staring her down. In an attempt to distract the glaring woman Amanda shot spells out the carriage window towards students who were bent double with scarf's whipping about behind them, the students straightened and looked around for the source of the sudden warmth and lack of wind when her spells hit them.

Professor McGonagall continued to stare at her until the carriage stopped and Amanda escaped into Hogsmeade.

Amanda ran eagerly towards the Hog's Head, it was dirtier then most places, and the company was a little strange, but it was warm and she knew the barman.

"Hello, Aberforth," she said, smiling softly at the grumpy bartender.

"Amy," he grunted, wiping at a glass with a rag that was probably so dirty it was only making the glass filthier. "I heard you were in the order."

"I heard you weren't this year," she shot back.

He grunted and spit on the rag before moving on to another glass. "You shouldn't have joined, you're going to get hurt… again."

"Eventually I'm going to learn how to take care of myself so that I won't get hurt," she said, still smiling brightly.

"You can take care of yourself," he said, "you get hurt because you try to take care of others."

"Either that or I have horrible luck."

"Both," he said simply.

Amanda shrugged, he was probably right.

"You want some help with that?"

Aberforth handed her a rag and put some glasses on the counter. She grimaced and waved her wand, producing a much cleaner rag and setting to work.

"Heard about you becoming deputy headmistress, why'd you leave?"

"Been reading Rita Skeeter?"

"I know what's true out of her slop," he said defensively. "Why're you here?"

"Dumbledore asked me to," she said simply.

Aberforth was another person with Dumbledore's eyes, they flashed angrily in the firelight.

"What have I told you about listening to him?" he demanded, grabbing her arm and whispering fiercely. "He's going to get you killed! And for what? What have you gained, leaving your great position at another school, seeing horrors in Voldemorts mind?"

"I trust Albus," she said.

"You –"

Amanda put up a hand, effectively silencing him.

"And I'm going to keep trusting him until _I_ see fit not to, not because you don't."

There was silence for a while, no one ventured to the Hog's Head in this weather.

"You know you look like her, right?"

Amanda paused and looked up at the portrait of Ariana. They had the same eyes, the same build, the same pale pale skin. The only difference was their hair, Ariana had beautiful blonde curls that cascaded down her back, Amanda's own black locks were only wavy because of the constant braid she kept them in.

"No, I don't," she said, remembering what Dumbledore had told her. "I look like what you think she could have become, and I'm not."

Aberforth grunted, "You can deny it all you want, don't know why you would, but you look just like her. Although she would've been nicer."

He was probably right, from what Amanda had heard Ariana would never be able to get in a fight, let alone actually hurt someone. Amanda suddenly stood up, setting the now clean glasses back on the counter and pulling out her wand.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to go kill someone," she said jokingly. "It's the only way."

Aberforth chuckled, shaking his head. Just then a shrill scream pierced the air. Amanda raced from the pub, running outside and up the path toward the screaming. She recognized Katie Bell, hanging in the air as if she were about to take flight, her eyes wide and unseeing, her mouth opened in a loud scream.

Before Amanda could get to them Katie collapsed, falling down on her friend. She continued to scream and writhe on the ground. Potter and his friends were gathered around her and Amanda pushed them away.

"Out of the way, out of the way!"

She knelt down beside Katie and waved her arm over her, not finding anything she could do standing in the middle of Hogsmeade.

"What happened?" she asked.

Katie's friend continued to sob and scream loudly, as did Katie, and Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't know what to say.

Amanda lifted Katie into her arms carefully and Appirated, reappearing just outside the gates of Hogwarts and walking briskly up the grounds. She struggled to hold the writhing and screaming girl, it seemed Katie was trying desperately to get away. Amanda stumbled, caught Katie, and walked on, wondering briefly why she hadn't bothered to silence or stun the girl before remembering that putting more magic on an already cursed girl was just a bad idea.

She was approaching the main doors and wondering how she would manage to open the door when it opened of its own accord. She thanked her lucky stars when Severus stepped out.

"Would you cease that blasted –"

He stopped when he saw Amanda struggling to hold on to the hysterical Katie.

"What happened?"

"I – don't – know!" she said, struggling to talk while Katie screamed in her ear and tried to pull her face from her skull. "Would you – mind – moving?"

Severus moved out of the doorway obligingly, holding it open so she could force her and Katie through it.

"Would you like me to take that?"

Amanda shot him a disbelieving look.

"Do you _want_ to take this?"

"Not really, no." At least he was honest.

"I didn't think so," she said, climbing the stairs slowly.

Severus followed, periodically pushing her back up when Katie's wild writhing threw her off balance and threatened to send them both cascading down the stairs. At the top of the stairs Professor McGonagall was waiting for them, her hands at her ears.

"What is going on?" she shouted shrilly.

"Ask Potter!" Amanda shouted, walking past her and to the hospital wing.

It must have taken Amanda and Severus much longer to get the unwilling Katie to the hospital wing then it took Minerva to fetch Potter, as Amanda was having difficulty moving forward and Katie kept grabbing things when they passed them.

Once in the hospital wing Madame Pomfrey rushed immediately over, still holding a tray of various potions. Without warning Katie lashed out, knocking the tray of potions from Pomfrey's hands and then reaching up and hooking into Amanda's eye, catching it with her nail and tearing downwards.

Amanda cried out and dropped Katie, her hand going to her eye and simultaneously bending down to grab Katie and pull her out of the puddle of potions she'd just fallen into. Katie hit her around the ankles and her feet slid form under her, sending her crashing towards the ground.

A warm arm caught Amanda just in time and pulled her up and around, pressing her into their chest as they moved back. Severus's arms moved from her waist, one moving to her shoulder to hold her in place while the other moved to her chin, tilting her face toward him and pulling at the skin near her eye for a better view.

"Severus!" said a voice from the door.

It was Professor McGonagall and she was holding something wrapped in a handkerchief.

"I need you to look –"

She stopped when she saw the scene the hospital wing was in. The puddle of potions on the floor was spreading and bubbling quietly. Madame Pomfrey and one of her nurses were struggling to get the screaming Katie into a bed so they could figure out what was wrong with her. And Severus was still examining Amanda's eye, having completely ignored Professor McGonagall. Amanda was grasping Severus's forearms for support and trying desperately not to blink.

Red tears slipped from her eye without her control, mixing with the blood. Severus poked and prodded gently, ignoring Katie's screams. He pulled a handkerchief from his robes and gently wiped away the blood. It looked bad; Amanda's eye was already starting to turn red and swell, blood oozing over the actual eye where he didn't dare try to clear it away. His hand moved from her shoulder to the back of her head to steady her and Amanda tightened her grasp on his arms, moving just a little closer for comfort. He pulled his wand out and tilted her head up farther.

"Hold still," he said softly.

Severus brought his wand up and tapped just below her eye, murmuring a spell under his breath. A sickly feeling spread up Amanda's cheek, and her eye felt like it was boiling. She clenched her teeth and squeezed the life out of Severus's arm, probably leaving marks under his sleeve. As quickly as the feeling had came it vanished, leaving her eye feeling watery and itchy.

"Thank you," she said.

Severus ignored her thanks and instead tilted her head back up, his thumb under her eye while he looked into it again.

"How's your vision?"

"Fine," she said, blinking rapidly.

Severus nodded and took a step back, finally turning to see what Professor McGonagall wanted. She just stared at them, looking a little surprised.

"Well?" said Severus, sounding impatient.

"Potter says this is what the girl touched before going into her fit," she said, holding up the handkerchief. "I thought you ought to take a look at it."

Severus nodded, took the handkerchief carefully, and turned back to Katie, examining her hands and the necklace carefully. Professor McGonagall approached Amanda.

"I've never seen him act like that," she said quietly, looking at Amanda with eyebrows raised.

"You mean work on what you asked him to look at?"

"I meant attentative, the Severus I know would have left you in the care of Madame Pomfrey."

Amanda shrugged.

"I went to school with him, and he tolerates my presence, it's only natural he'd want to keep me around a little longer then most people."

Her mother remained looking skeptical and Amanda rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to bed, unless you think the bed is going to act strange and eat me," she said sarcastically.

Minerva shook her head and moved out of the way, allowing Amanda to slip by and leave the chaos of the hospital wing and the screams of Katie behind.

Once in the sanctuary of her own room Amanda collapsed on the bed, not bothering to change and falling asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

**Well, that was a nice little bit of filler. Sorry but it's probably going to be filler for a little while, I haven't really got anything planned until the end of the year where Severus off's Dumbledore. Which sucks because that's half a year of wither filler, or one heck of a time skip.**


	46. Christmas! Bring it oneth

The next few weeks leading up to Christmas sped by in a blur. Katie was sent to St. Mungo's where she didn't look like she would be returning any time soon, but even without their chaser Gryffindor still flattened Slytherin in the next quidditch match.

Amanda and Severus spent more time together as well, often meeting late at night after others had returned to their rooms and spending the whole night together. Professor McGonagall seemed to be taking an interest in spending more time with her daughter as well, often popping up just to chat; it got to the point where Amanda and Severus would always go to his room just so that he wouldn't have to hide when Minerva showed up.

Christmas was approaching fast. Hagrid had already single-handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees for the great hall; Amanda and some of the other staff had twisted garlands of holly and tinsel around the banisters; everlasting candles glowed from inside the helmets of suites of armor and someone had added great bunches of mistletoe at the intervals of corridors.

Amanda found herself forced to take alternate routes to get to places because it didn't seem to bother most of the male population at the school that she was almost double their age.

"You realize I'm about thirty, right?" Amanda said, having been stopped in her tracks by a group of Gryffindor boys.

"Yep!" said Dean Thomas cheerfully.

Amanda stared down at him for another moment, still not really believing that they had stopped her. She rapped him on his head with her knuckles.

"Is there something wrong with you guys?"

"It's the fever of love!" said someone she didn't quite recognize by voice.

"Okay, now that was just plain wrong," she said sternly.

"Come on, Professor, where's your Christmas spirit?"

Amanda rolled her eyes and knelt down slightly so that she was at their level. She held up one finger and beckoned Dean over, giving him a small peck before ruffling his hair and smiling. She repeated the small peck with the other boys huddled around her and straightened, looking dryly at the now grinning boys before rolling her eyes and walking briskly away.

"Merry Christmas, Professor!" shouted Dean.

"Maybe for you, but I'm going to have nightmares for weeks."

The other boys laughed and punched the shocked Dean in the shoulder, teasing him about his possible bad kissing.

Further down the hallway, Amanda saw another group of boys waiting for her. She stopped and looked back; glad to see Severus was coming up the hallway. She doubled back and walked beside him.

"Walk with me?" she said sweetly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm awesome like that," she said, "and because I can't seem to get it across that I am almost double their age."

Severus looked up and saw the group of boys waiting for Amanda to walk by and smirked.

"So you want me to… what exactly?"

"Just walk with me, no one ever bothers you," she said.

It was almost true, the boys looked disheartened. One looked like he was about to shout something, perhaps about Snape and Amanda under the mistletoe, but a cold glare from Severus shut him up. Unfortunately, Dumbledore happened to be walking the opposite directing, and they were forced to stop in the crowded hallway to let him pass. The old wizard stopped as well and stared at them with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Well?" he said.

"Well what?" Severus snapped impatiently.

Dumbledore, his eyes still twinkling, pointed upwards with his uninjured hand to the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. There was a long moment of silence in which everyone stared at Amanda while she continued to stare at the mistletoe and Dumbledore in disbelief.

"Fine," she said briskly.

Amanda turned swiftly to Severus and put a hand on his shoulder, using it to balance herself as she stood on tip toe to reach him. She gave him a soft kiss, much longer then the pecks she'd given to the boys and then stepped back.

"The rest of you will have to work it out amongst yourselves," she said, gesturing around at them before sweeping away down the hall, leaving an astonished Snape and equally shocked students with a merrily chuckling Dumbledore.

A few days later Dumbledore forced them together again, this time by forcing them both to attend Slughorn's Christmas party.

On the night of the party the ceiling and walls of Slughorn's office had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, so that the room made them feel like they were inside of a giant tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in red light cast from a lamp dangling from the ceiling in which live faeries were fluttering. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins issued from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house elves were working their way through the forest of knees, burdened by heavy silver trays of food.

Amanda found herself a nice, semi-secluded area to stand while she sipped from a glass of campaign from a house elf's tray. She was wearing a slim, dark red dress that trailed sown around her ankles; she had several white bracelets around her wrists that jangled quietly when she moved. A few feet away was a small, stout, bespectacled man standing next to a tall emaciated man with dark circles under his eyes. The taller man looked rather bored. Nearby stood a gaggle of girls, looking both curious and excited. Judging by the mans hypnotic eyes and the way he kept eyeing people who walked by Amanda would have guessed him to be a vampire.

Slughorn was running around wearing a tasseled velvet hat to match his smoking jacket. Amanda sighed and took a step back, not wanting to have to listen to him talking to her. She spotted Severus and was about to walk forward, when suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder.

The tall fellow who had been standing next to the shorter man was looking down at her, his long arm stretched out to grasp her shoulder. Amanda turned to look at him fully.

"Hello," she said quietly.

He just nodded.

"Are you a vampire?"

He nodded again.

"Well, not to sound rude or anything," she said, smiling faintly, "but don't eat me."

He smiled and his hand left her shoulder and he said in a very quiet, musical voice, "I shall try to resist."

"My name's Amanda, may I ask yours?"

"Sanguini," he said, once again in that musical voice of his.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Amanda glanced back at the man who had been with Sanguini, "I must say, you looked quite bored."

Sanguini looked back at the short man who was now speaking eagerly to Harry and grunted, sounding a bit like he put up with the man because it was much easier than to not.

"These human parties bore me; there is not much I can do."

"I'm sorry to –"

"_Sanguini, stay put_!" said the shorter man, looking at Sanguini with exasperation.

Amanda gave a halfhearted grimace and watched Sanguini walk away, once again looking bored. She sipped at her Champaign and looked around, not really caring to move away from her quiet spot. On the other side of the room Amanda spotted Severus again, they locked eyes for a moment and then Severus frowned, glaring at something over her shoulder.

Amanda turned her head only to come face to face with Sanguini. He was looking down at her with hungry eyes, inches from her face. She found herself lost in his dark eyes and unable to move away. He moved a fraction of an inch closer.

Something moved behind Amanda and an arm wrapped itself around her bare shoulders, pulling her backwards until she was pressed against something hard and warm. She looked up and saw Severus glaring at Sanguini.

"_Sanguini, what are you doing?_"

The tall vampire stepped back, looking a little guilty and Severus pulled Amanda away with him roughly.

"Even at a party, you manage to find trouble," he growled lowly.

Someone grabbed Severus, pulling him to them and, as Severus's arm was still tight around Amanda's shoulders, she was forced to go with them.

"Stop sulking and come and join us, Severus!" hiccupped Slughorn happily, his arm around Severus's shoulders. "I was just talking about Harry's exceptional potion-making! Some credit must go to you, of course, you taught him for five years!"

Trapped, with Slughorn's arm around his shoulders, Snape looked over Amanda's shoulder at Harry, his black eyes narrowed.

"Funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all."

"Well, then, its natural ability!" shouted Slughorn. "You should have seen what he gave me, first lesson, Draught of Living Death – never had a student produce a finer first attempt, I don't think even you, Severus – maybe Amanda –"

"Really?" said Snape quietly, his eyes still boring into Harry. Amanda narrowed her eyes, the only reason she'd been able to produce great potions on her first attempt was because Severus had been teaching her, and she'd seen Potter's work, he was no Severus.

"Remind me what other subjects you're taking, Harry?" asked Slughorn.

"Defense against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology…"

"All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror," said Snape, with the faintest sneer.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to do," said Harry defiantly.

"And what a great one you'll make too!"

"I don't think you should be an Auror, Harry," said Luna Lovegood unexpectedly. Everybody looked at her. "The Aurors are part of the Rotfang Conspiracy, I thought everyone knew that. They're working to bring down the Ministry of Magic from within using a combination of Dark Magic and gum disease."

Amanda almost choked on air trying to hold her laughter, Harry, on the other hand, really did choke on his mead. A moment later Amanda stopped laughing as Filch appeared, dragging with him Draco Malfoy.

"Professor Slughorn," wheezed Filch, "I discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party and top have been delayed setting out. Did you issue an invitation?"

"All right, I wasn't invited!" said Draco angrily. "I was trying to gatecrash, happy?"

"No, I'm not!" said Filch, a statement at complete odds with the look on his face. "You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the headmaster say that nighttime prowling's out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?"

"That's alright, Argus, that's all right," said Slughorn, waving a hand. "It's Christmas, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco."

Filch's expression of outraged disappointment was almost matched by, oddly enough, Draco's. But the boy composed himself quickly and started to thank Slughorn profusely.

"It's nothing, nothing," said Slughorn, waving off Malfoy's thanks. "I did know your grandfather, after all…"

"He always spoke very highly off you, sir," said Malfoy quickly. "Said you were the best potion-maker he'd ever known…"

Looking closer, Amanda noticed that Draco didn't look well. He had dark circles under his eyes and a distinctly grayish tinge to his skin, she recognized the look well, it was a look she'd worn for seven years as a student, and again after Greyback had attacked her.

"I'd like a word with you, Draco," said Snape suddenly.

"Oh, now, Severus," said Slughorn, "it's Christmas, don't be too hard –"

"I'm his Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," said Snape curtly. "Follow me, Draco."

They left, Snape finally letting go of Amanda's shoulder and leading the way, with Draco following and looking resentful. Amanda escaped to a secluded corner, as far from Slughorn as possible, and found her mother and Dumbledore.

"What was all that?" asked Professor McGonagall, hiccupping slightly.

"It seems young mister Malfoy decided to crash," she said, not believing that that was what he was really up to. "Severus is talking to him now."

"No, no, no," said Minerva, "I meant you and Severus, when that other guy got too close."

Amanda looked closely at her mother, who was wavering a bit and hiccupped periodically. There were several empty glasses around her. She rounded on Dumbledore.

"You got my mother drunk?"

"Oh, stop avoiding my question," said Minerva.

"I'm so talented I managed to find trouble at a Christmas party, Sanguini, the vampire, was getting a bit too close and Severus dragged me away before something unfortunate could happen."

"He liiiikes you," her mother said, swaying slightly.

"Your druuuunk," said Amanda, in almost the same tone.

"I think I'd better take her to her room," said Dumbledore hastily, standing up.

Dumbledore helped Professor McGonagall stand and they walked away, Minerva leaning heavily on Albus for support. Just as they stumbled out the door, Severus entered. Amanda walked over to him, his blank face not hiding the fact that he was furious from her.

"Is Draco going to be alright?"

Severus grunted.

"Are _you_ going to be alright?"

He stopped walking and looked at her, a strange expression on his face. That was a question he couldn't answer, by the end of the year he would lose her and then he _wouldn't_ be okay. But if he told her that then she would try to find out why, and when he didn't tell her she would ask Dumbledore, and when that failed she might take drastic measures to find out. But would it really be so bad if she knew? Then she wouldn't hate him. But he couldn't tell her, Dumbledore had made him swear, and she most likely try to stop them anyways.

"As well as can be expected," he said finally.

Amanda's eyes narrowed, she didn't like that answer, but it would have to do for now.

"Alright," she said, "I'm going to bed, join me?"

Severus nodded and followed her up to her room, wishing he could tell her what was going to happen.

**O wow, I have to thank SituationalExtrovert and her friend for that review, it cracked me up. I think I laughed for a good five minutes straight. Thank you, that was just hilarious. Also, I have nothing against fillers, they just take me longer to write because I have nothing of Rowling's to base things off of, plus I get all confused with the time-line and then weird stuff happens. 0_0 **

**Thank you all! Review and have fun reading! I own nothing!**


	47. Christmas visitors

"– and if Fleur shares with Ginny –"

"Fluer's going to be here?"

Amanda had walked into the Weasley kitchen just in time to hear Mrs. Weasley mention Fleur.

"Oh, hello there, Amy," said Mrs. Weasley. "Yes, Bill and Fleur are engaged."

"Hn," Amanda said, looking thoughtful, "I would not have bet on that." She shrugged. "They could work well, however. Anyways, since Charlie's not coming can I have his room?"

"It's all yours," Mrs. Weasley said.

The next few days sped by, and the holiday cheer seemed to be fast spreading. Amanda had been glad to see Fleur again, though she could have gone without the mile-a-minute update on all the latest gossip, or the exclamation that they simply _had_ to find Amanda a man, and soon. It had taken a lot of strength for her to stop choking on her wine at that point, poor Remus had looked as if he thought she was going to die.

Christmas Eve found them sitting around the fire, listening to the radio spit out Celestina Warbeck. Amanda was sitting by Remus and staring into the fire blankly. She wasn't really paying attention to them, she'd spent the majority of the past few days keeping Fleur and Mrs. Weasley separated, and was enjoying the semi peaceful evening.

Mention of Greyback brought her back to reality; her ears pricked as she listened to Remus explain how Greyback was the one who had changed him. Amanda subconsciously pulled out Sirius's knife, twirling it idly between her fingers and watching the firelight reflect off the silver handle and large sapphire. It still had the tag on it, the one reminding her to kill Greyback, she didn't like the thought of killing anyone, but if she got the chance with Greyback, she would plunge the knife deep into his cruel heart.

Apparently Remus noticed her fiddling with the knife because when he was done talking with Potter returned and asked her about it.

"Sirius gave it to me," she said, in answer to his question.

"May I see it?"

She handed him the knife and he examined it, reading the tag and looking a little confused.

"Sirius told me what happened, with Greyback," he said softly.

She grunted.

"He really seemed upset by it," Remus pressed, handing her the knife back.

"Yeah, I guess he thought I was invincible or something,"

Remus looked uncomfortable so Amanda continued. "I can understand how he might come to think that, I'm pretty awesome after all. Really Remus, Sirius and I came to an understanding of sorts before he died. I honestly bore him no ill will, nor do I think badly of him… most of the time."

Remus smiled again, a real smile, and Amanda stood up.

"I'm off to bed, and you should think about finding your own," she said.

"Yes _mother_," he said sarcastically.

"Oh go find your father then, _son_."

"And who would that be?" he called, laughter in his eyes.

"I'm not telling," she called back in a sing-song voice, already half up the stairs.

The following day was much cheerier, for almost everyone. Charlie had managed to get away from work and had scared the hell out of Mrs. Weasley by Appirating just outside the yard so he could join them for Christmas dinner. Everyone was wearing new sweaters, except Fleur, who it seemed Mrs. Wesley had not wanted to waste one on.

"Ah, Molly," Amanda said, "if you were too busy to make sweaters for everyone I would have been more than willing to wait so that Fleur could have gotten hers on Christmas."

There was a brief moment of silence while everyone looked between the two women. It had been quite obvious that Mrs. Weasley hadn't liked Fleur at all, and that it wasn't by accident that Fleur hadn't gotten a sweater. The frosty look in Amanda's eyes suggested that she knew this quite well.

"Yes, well, Amanda, you've been part of the family for so much longer deary, I couldn't possibly have skimped out on yours."

"But Molly, Fleur is about to become part of your family, legally. Surely the cheer and fellowship of Christmas is an excellent time to welcome her into the Weasley traditions."

"Well," Molly said briskly, as if she doubted it. "There's always next year."

"Yes," Amanda said firmly. "There is always next year."

The two women continued to stare frostily at each other until Remus broke the awkward silence.

"Who's that in the yard?"

Everyone's head turned to look out the small window.

"Arthur! Arthur – It's Percy!"

Mrs. Weasley was right, Percy, along with Rufus Scrimgeour, was walking up the garden path. Before any of them could say anything else the back door opened and Percy walked in. There was a rather painful silence.

"Merry Christmas, Mother."

"Oh, _Percy_!" said Mrs. Weasley, and she threw herself into his arms.

"You must forgive this intrusion," said Rufus Scrimgeour. "Percy and I were in the vicinity – working, you know – and he couldn't resist dropping in and seeing you all."

But Percy showed no sign of wanting to greet any of the rest of the family. Mr. Weasley, the twins, and Amanda were all watching him ignore him, stony-faced. After a few awkward moments of tense silence Rufus took Harry outside, leaving just the Weasley's and their guests.

"Hello Percy," Amanda said, after several more tense moments of silence.

"_You_," he said, glaring. "What are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" Charlie asked.

"We've meet. I told you I knew your family rather well," she added to Percy. "So Percy, what business have you and the Minister been doing around here?"

"Nothing that concerns _you_," he said snottily.

"Oh Perce," said Mrs. Weasley, attempting to relocate him from the doorway to a seat at the table. "Why don't you sit down and tell us how you've been."

Percy remained stiff as a board and refused to move an inch. The younger Weasley's continued to stare him down.

"Yeah Perce," said Fred, "Since you couldn't resist coming to see us and all."

"Good to know you still like us, and didn't just send all our letters back unopened because you thought we were idiots heading for trouble and traitors to the Ministry."

"Yeah, good to know it's not that."

"Oh hush, you two, Percy's here now. Do sit down dear, tell us about Rufus, he seemed quite proud of you."

Percy still didn't move. It was glaringly obvious to everyone except Mrs. Weasley that Percy was just a tool so that Rufus could speak with Harry. Amanda was annoyed, how dare he do this to his family, to his own mother?

"Ah, so _he's_ the one that's proud of you," Amanda said thoughtfully. "I guess someone had to be."

"You know nothing about me!" Percy hissed, showing an emotion other than cold detachment for the first time that since arriving.

"And from the way you've been acting every time I see you I wouldn't want to know you," she said coldly.

"Amy! Don't be so hard –"

But Percy interrupted her.

"And what about you then? You sit there and act as if you know everything! But I know all about you. You try to act all perfect and when it fails you run away like a coward."

An icy silence fell over them all. Percy had unknowingly hit the nail on the head. If looks could kill Percy would already have spontaneously combusted, taking that half of the kitchen with him.

"Something we have in common, then," Amanda said. Her voice was as pleasant as it had been when they'd started talking, but her face was a mixture of revulsion and cold anger. "Or did you think you were running _towards_ something when you walked out on your family?"

Percy bristled. Before anyone could say anything else the door opened and Harry and Scrimgeour walked in.

"Well, Percy," said Rufus, "it seems it's time to go."

He looked disappointed, but Percy looked relieved.

"Wait," called Fred, "Percy!"

Percy twisted around just in time for a large glob of mashed parsnips to smash into his face. And that was the end of that.

February arrived and the snow melted, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. The dull, wet weather meant no one could go outside, so it was with much pent up excitement that the entire sixth year filed down into the great hall for their first Apparition lesson.

Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled above them all darkly as the students assembled in front of them. It was her, Professor McGonagall, Severus, and Sprout – in short the Heads of House – and a Ministry official.

"Good morning," said the tufty haired man, when most of the students had fallen silent. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time –"

"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" barked Professor McGonagall.

Malfoy flushed pink and stepped away from Crab, who he'd been whispering urgently with. Severus looked annoyed, most likely more from Professor McGonagall then the fact that Malfoy had been talking.

"– by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests," Twycross continued, as if there had been no interruption.

The wiry man continued but Amanda wasn't paying attention. She was focusing on the spells to put splinched students back together. The spells were rather complicated and she couldn't recall ever using them before. Apparition had been taught as a specific class at Beauxbatons, so it wasn't as if she'd even been present to see the students leaving their body parts behind.

Amanda was jolted out of her thoughts by the sudden shuffling of students. It seemed they were supposed to separate so that they had five feet around themselves on all sides. The other Heads of House were moving among them, herding them all into position.

"Ladies!" she said loudly, shooing a pack of terrified looking Ravenclaws back. "Being in front will not keep you from leaving your arms behind, please back up!"

The girls all squealed in horror at the thought.

"What happened to being encouraging?" muttered Severus, who was also still standing beside her.

"As if you could do better," she said.

"Why would I _want_ to?" he said, looking around at the students with disdain.

Amanda just laughed and stepped forward, shooing the Ravenclaws apart.

"You have to let go of her, Miss McMillan, if you intend to participate. We don't want anybody to reappear with anyone else's body parts now, do we?"

The girls all squealed again and jumped apart, clutching their arms around themselves as if to hold themselves together. Amanda just rolled her eyes, she didn't get it. If they were afraid why were they here? And why did some Ravenclaws automatically assume they were going to fail? Ravenclaws never failed, if they were capable of failing they wouldn't have been placed in Ravenclaw.

After a lot of cursing, jostling, and shouting they were finally in position and Twycross was instructing them again. Amanda tuned him out, she remembered everything from her own Apparition lessons, she also remembered how painful the process of splinching was, she'd done it more then once.

"One –"

Twycross was counting down. Amanda used a stone gargoyle to lift herself up, she wanted to be able to see all the students. Plus she didn't want to stand on her leg if at all possible, Madame Pomfrey had stitched her up after the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries but it still hurt if she stood on it for too long.

"– Two –"

The students looked positively horrified to be asked to Apparate so soon.

"– THREE!"

Amanda fought not to laugh as everyone suddenly twirled around. Somehow Dumbledore or anyone else she'd seen do it had looked graceful, elegant, even. But that wasn't the case here, now everyone just looked rather foolish. As the students stumbled around Twycross told them to readjust their hoops and try again. So on the count of three they all spun around again with the same results. And then again a third time.

Amanda was starting to tense up on her gargoyle. By now she'd already splinched herself, so it was only a matter of time before someone here did.

But they readjusted their hoops and the Ministry official counted down again. And then someone screamed. Amanda literally leapt from the stone gargoyle over the head of Dean Thomas and rushed to the Hufflepuff girls' side.

Susan Bones was wobbling in her hoop, her left leg still standing where she'd started, five feet away. Amanda and the other Heads of House converged, all waving their wands in complicated patterns. There was a bang and a lot of purple smoke and Susan was revealed, whole but traumatized looking.

"Wasn't that fun?" Amanda asked sarcastically, when the lesson was over.

"Oh yes, because I have nothing better to do then watch students make fools of themselves," said Severus, just as sarcastic.

"Just be glad you weren't around for my year," Amanda said, barely suppressing remembered laughter.

"Knowing you, you probably managed to splinch everyone there," he said, half teasing half serious.

"Close," she conceded.

"You can't be serious?"

"It was my third lesson, and some guy tripped and ran into me. When I Appirated then, I took his arm and right leg with me, but I sent his leg into some other boy and I had four arms."

"Four?"

"Some girl from across the room," Amanda said, waving her arms dismissively. "I'm not sure how that happened. But then, in my fourth lesson, I somehow ended up in Thame, which is this itty-bitty town in the middle of nowhere. Luckily I tripped and somehow summoned the night bus. I had to ask them if they could take me to Hogsmeade and then I'd pay them there. They weren't very happy, but they definitely weren't as upset as the barkeep for the Hogs Head, who paid for my bus ride, which was very expensive, I might add."

"Did you pay him back?"

Amanda thought about it for a moment.

"No, actually, and I feel bad about that."

"Only you could have accidentally transported yourself halfway –"

Amanda's lips crashed into his, effectively silencing him. They were just outside his room now; no one was around to see them.

"You were saying," she whispered, when they had broken apart.

"Before you so rudely interrupted?"

"Before I so rudely interrupted," she agreed.

"I was saying that you are definitely still a stupid little Gryffindor –"

"Ravenclaw now," she pointed out.

"Ravenclaw woman," he said, picking her up and carrying her into his room.

"That's why you love me," she said, pulling on his hair and wrapping her legs around him.

He grunted and kissed her neck, making her giggle. Amanda laughed as he tossed her onto his bed unceremoniously; it looked like she wouldn't be getting a chance to grade her papers anytime soon. It was going to be a long interesting night.

"What's he playing at, calling for a meeting in the middle of the school year?" Amanda said angrily and slapping down a roll of bandages.

March had rolled through without incident, but now things were starting to heat up. Ron Weasley had been poisoned in Slughorns office and Severus and Dumbledore had had a row. She'd known it the moment she'd seen them next, Severus had been so tense. For once Amanda was siding with Severus, he didn't need the added stress, what with his Death Eater meetings and whatever had been bothering him all year. Plus she still hadn't forgiven Dumbledore for getting her mother drunk.

She sighed angrily once more and plopped down behind Severus so she could finish patching him up from his latest Death Eater meeting.

"The Dark Lord does as he pleases," Severus sneered, "You know that."

Amanda just scowled and rubbed more numbing potion into his back.

"Amy," he said, half turning towards her. "They think you're a werewolf."

"I don't see why you say that like it's a bad thing. The less they really know about me the better."

"But if they take over the school –"

"How could they? With all of us and Dumbledore protecting it?"

"Will you listen for a minute?" he said, sounding strained.

Amanda leaned back, glaring but silent.

"If they take over the school they'll try to spare all pure bloods, but your blood will be worthless to them. In fact, you're more then worthless, you're an abomination. They won't want you."

Amanda still wasn't concerned. The only way for that to be a concern would be for him and Dumbledore to die, and if that were to happen she wouldn't care about her life anymore. But she didn't say that. Instead she pulled him down onto the bed with her.

"Don't worry so much, you have enough to think about without me added to it. Besides, to get to me they'd have to get through Dumbledore, and you, and all the other Professors here. And I can take pretty good care of myself, you know," she added.

Severus snorted and she smiled, glad she'd managed to get him in a better mood.

"Come on, let's get some sleep. There's Quidditch tomorrow."

"Since when have you told me what to do?" he grumbled, though still pulling the blankets up obediently.

"Don't look at me, you're the one who actually listens."

Severus snorted and lifted his arm so Amanda could curl more comfortably into his side.

"Good night, Amy," he said firmly.

But she was already asleep, her head rising and falling softly in time to his breathing. Severus smiled and fell asleep to her quiet breathing.

"And that's Smith of Hufflepuff with the Quaffle," said a dreamy voice, echoing over the grounds. "He did the commentary last time, of course, and Ginny Weasley flew into him, I think probably on purpose, it looked like it. Smith was being quiet rude about Gryffindor, I expect he regrets it now he's playing them – oh, look, he's lost the Quaffle, Ginny took it from him, I do like her, she's very nice…"

Amanda was laughing hysterically. After talking to Luna at Slughorns party she'd thought it would be hilarious if the girl were to commentate. And she had been right.

"…but now that big Hufflepuff player's got the Quaffle from her, I can't remember his name, it's something like Bibble – no, Buggins –"

"It's Cadwallader!" said Professor McGonagall loudly.

Amanda collapsed in laughter again and Severus snorted beside her.

"And Harry Potter's now having an argument with his Keeper," said Luna serenely. "I don't think that'll help him find the Snitch, but maybe it's a clever ruse…"

"Oh I do hope she commentates every game," Amanda said, when she had managed to stop laughing.

Luna didn't seem to be interested in the game at all, she kept talking about the shape of the clouds and the possibility that Zacharis Smith, the Hufflepuff Chaser, was suffering from something called "Loser's Lurgy."

"Seventy-forty to Hufflepuff!" barked Professor McGonagall.

"Is it, already?" said Luna vaguely. "Oh, look! The Gryffindor Keeper's got hold of one of the Beater's bats."

She was right. Amanda and the rest of the crowd was suddenly focused on the Gryffindor Keeper, who appeared to be demonstrating to a Beater how to properly hit a bludger. Harry arrived just in time for the Keeper to make a ferocious swipe at the bludger and send it careening right into Harry's face.

The Gryffindor team reacted immediately, leaving their positions to stop Harry from free-falling to the hard earth below. The Hufflepuff team, no matter how honorable they were, could not pass up the chance to score several more goals on the distracted Gryffindor team.

"You think he's alright?" Amada asked, while Harry's limp form was being carried up to the hospital wing and the game continued.

"Knowing my luck, he'll be completely unharmed."

"Oh, come one, he's not _that_ bad, I like the boy."

"I've noticed," he sounded as if that were the most disgusting thing he had ever heard.

Amanda tried not to laugh and turned back to the game. Gryffindor had no chance now. With Harry unable to catch the snitch and their Keeper still trying to do everyone else's job, it came as no surprise when Hufflepuff won three hundred and twenty to sixty.

There was a lot of surprised cheering from everyone except the Gryffindors; it wasn't that anyone but Slytherin had anything against them, it was just that Hufflepuff hardly ever won. Amanda was starting to wish they had sat with the other teachers, it was too cold out to be standing around waiting to get down the stands.

"Come on," she said, grumbling under her breath. "Let's take the back stairs."

Severus eyed the massive crowd of people trying to exit the stands and grudgingly agreed. There was a reason no one used the back stairs, they creaked and groaned with the slightest breeze and there were more holes through them than in Swiss cheese.

"This is your idea of safe?" he asked, eyeing the steps with disdain.

"Nope, but all the more fun!"

She carefully stepped down the first few steps, testing her weight before moving to each one.

"You're going to get yourself killed."

"Well then you'll just have to save me again, won't you?" she said brightly.

Severus grumbled to himself but followed her down anyways. He couldn't very well turn around and leave her by herself to get into who knows what kind of trouble now, could he?

The stairs actually held up rather well, they creaked loudly with every step, but so far so good.

"There, see?" Amanda said, now nearly halfway to the bottom. "I told you there was nothing to worry about."

And, because words truly are the start of everything, the steps broke. Amanda's face twisted into utter horror as she tried to get off the crumbling floor. But it was no use. Amanda screamed once in pain as she crashed into the landing beneath before it too shattered and she plummeted to the ground, a good thirty foot drop. She felt one moment of excruciating pain before everything went black.

Severus ran the rest of the way down the stairs, leaping over the gaping holes she'd left behind with complete disregard to the structural integrity of the stairs. Amanda was lying motionless at the bottom, her left leg bent at an impossible angle and blood seeping from a gash on her forehead. He scooped her carefully into his arms and made for the hospital wing, ignoring the inquiring looks of nearly the entire student population as he pushed through the crowd.

Poppy threw a fit, just like the last time Severus carried an unconscious Amanda in. She took one look at Amanda's twisted knee and started running around, gathering supplies and ranting.

"I warned her! I did! Didn't I?"

Severus merely nodded, there was no arguing with the angry nurse.

"If her leg doesn't heal properly it's _her_ fault! And if she doesn't wake up, then it serves her right! Maybe if she's unconscious for a few weeks she'll finally be able to go a few days without being injured!"

Severus knew the old witch was joking, she would never wish anyone ill, but what she had said still disturbed him. Amanda would be fine, wouldn't she?

"Surely you are joking," he said smoothly, trying to wheedle information from her and calm her down all at once.

"I wish! Her leg never did heal right, and now she's gone and broken it again. And she almost definitely has a fractured skull, second one today I might add."

"Then I will leave you to it," he said, before sweeping out of the hospital wing with a scowl on his face.

Amanda would be alright in the end, of that he was sure. But… he shouldn't have let her talk him into using those stairs, he knew how dangerous they could be, why had he even allowed it? The image of her horrified face kept flashing through his head, along with the sound of her scream before she had hit the ground. Severus sighed and shut his eyes; _she had better be alright in the morning._

**Yep, getting Minerva drunk was definitely one of my favorites too. And thank you all for the reviews, they are much appreciated, as always. Sorry this one kind of sucks and that it took so long.**


	48. Children

_Severus is never going to let me live this one down._

Amanda groaned, now that she was awake enough to actually think in complete sentences she could feel again. Her head throbbed, drumming its own beat against her skull. Her body felt heavy, like lead, but she couldn't feel any pain, she just felt numb. She couldn't see anything around her either but she could hear people snoring, it must be night time.

She chuckled softly to herself when she realized it was so dark because she hadn't opened her eyes yet.

"Oops," she murmured.

Amanda slowly opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn't. She'd been right about the time though, it was night. But the soft moonlight filtering through the windows was blinding, it seemed to go straight to her brain. She groaned again and rolled over, away from the light.

Now the only question was whether to get up and see if she could walk and possibly injure herself further or go back to sleep in the nice comfy bed. Naturally Amanda swung her legs over the edge so she could stand up. Sitting up made her feel dizzy and slightly nauseas, but she was used to getting head injuries so she just waited it out before continuing.

There was no pain in her bad leg even though it was wrapped once again in bandages, for which she was extremely grateful. Amanda eased herself off the bed slowly, not putting any weight on the bandaged leg. Once completely off the bed she leaned over slightly, putting her full weight on her leg, and then she fell.

It was instantaneous, pain shot up her leg like so many hot knives. She didn't even have time to scream before the pain pushed her back into the sweet black oblivion of unconsciousness.

The next time Amanda woke up her first thought was, _ouch._ She didn't try to move this time though, she just tried to lie completely still in the hopes that feeling wouldn't return to the rest of her body.

"Ah, you're awake," said a kind voice somewhere to her right.

"Am not," she said automatically.

Her only reply was an amused chuckle. Amanda opened her eyes slowly to see Dumbledore's smiling face and twinkling eyes.

"Madame Pomfrey isn't around here somewhere, is she?"

"I asked her not to be too harsh on you," he said, smiling in understanding.

Amanda scowled. The wrath of the old nurse was something to fear, and she really wasn't in the mood.

"How long have I been up here?" she asked suddenly.

"Four days, though it will be five today."

"What?" Amanda shot up, some half formed thought of racing down to her classroom controlling her body. Dumbledore pushed her gently back down. "What about my classes?"

"There have been no Charms classes in your absence, and I daresay the students will be pleased to have you back in a few days."

"A few days?" she said, surprise etched plainly across her face. "I feel fine, really, Dumbledore, there's no need to wait that long."

"This morning you were found collapsed on the floor, I take it you tried to walk?"

"Yes, but surely…"

Amanda trailed off as realization hit her. They hadn't been able to heal her leg. She couldn't stand, let alone walk. She couldn't teach. Dumbledore watched her face as she came to understand. Her face twisted into different emotions so fast he could barely identify them all. She finally settled on confusion.

"A few days…?"

"Yes, when you can walk down to your classroom classes will resume."

He looked sad, his face lacking the usual smile as it so often did these days.

"What about Fawkes?" she asked weakly.

"There is nothing wrong –"

"Obviously there is something wrong, if I cannot even stand!" she said angrily.

Dumbledore sighed and waited for her angry scowl to shift back into helplessness.

"I'm afraid I can not explain as well as Poppy could. As I understand it your muscles and bones _are_ healed, but your body couldn't heal your leg the way it used to be."

"So, I'm stuck like this, am I?" she said angrily.

"Poppy assures me that your leg will get better in time."

"Will it always hurt?"

"We don't know."

Amanda sighed, letting herself adjust to the news for a few moments.

"Does this mean I have to use the cane again?"

It was then that she noticed that Dumbledore was holding something. He held it out to her; it was the same cane she'd used last time. She sighed and took it from him, leaning it next to her against the bed.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for being the one to tell me."

He leaned forward and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly for support. Dumbledore didn't move away until she did.

"Go on," she said, smiling softly, "I'm sure you have stuff to do, and I'm certainly not going anywhere."

"Very well," he said, smiling and standing. "But, I must ask that you rest today, do not injure yourself further by pushing to hard."

Amanda smiled and nodded, waving him away. She kept the smile on her face until he was gone and then she rolled over and curled her leg up to her chest so she could look at it. There wasn't much to see, actually, it looked fine, a little swollen, but fine. Looks were utterly deceptive.

Poppy walked in then, she looked upset. She was looking at Amanda and fidgeting slightly.

"Hey," Amanda said, hoping to calm the woman a little.

Poppy sighed and walked over, still looking downcast.

"I'm sorry Amy," she said, "but there's only so much magic can do, and only so many times."

"It's alright Poppy," she murmured, "I know you did your best. It's my fault really. I guess I should have listened to you."

Poppy fidgeted again, and uncharacteristically didn't start on about how Amanda should have been more careful. Amanda took that as a bad sign.

"What, no lecture?"

"The Headmaster informed me that it was not my place to tell you how to act, and that you know how to take care of yourself." The nurse sounded a bit offended.

_Obviously I don't_, Amanda thought.

"Surely he didn't say _that_," she said.

"Not exactly," the nurse admitted. "But I _have_ been asked to refrain."

"Would it make you feel better if I let you lecture me tomorrow?" Amanda teased. "It could be our little secret."

Poppy just smiled and pulled the blankets back up to Amanda's chin. She hesitated when moving away, and then put her hand on Amanda's knee and looked at her sternly.

"If you try to get out of this bed today I will personally break all the bones in both of your legs and then strap you to the bed. _You will stay put_."

Amanda nodded meekly and watched the nurse go before sighing loudly; it was going to be a very boring next couple of days.

She was only half right. When word got out that she was awake people kept coming to see her; students who needed help with something, students that actually wanted to see her, teachers. And owls! Owls swooped in regularly, driving Poppy insane. She finally just moved Amanda next to a window so they wouldn't be swooping constantly around the room.

Days passed and she didn't really try to walk. If she had to get up for anything she would just lean on Poppy and hop over to whatever it was. She was afraid to walk on it. Severus hadn't visited either, which was really starting to bum her out, she would have thought that he'd at least have shown himself once or twice.

He came on the third night, during the full moon.

"You look well," he said, walking through the doors and making her jump.

Amanda set the book she'd been reading on the table and looked up at him, glad to have some company. He was glaring at her and she winced, here it came.

"Are you going to tell me about how stupid I was now?" she asked quietly, "because I think I know."

"You think you know?" he asked quietly. She wished he would yell, at the moment the only thing obvious was the fury in his eyes. "And what do you know?"

"Don't talk to me as if I was a child, Severus."

"You couldn't even be that! Even they don't get hurt as often as you do!"

It was a good thing the hospital wing was empty other than her, Severus seemed to be having trouble keeping his voice down.

"It's not my fault the steps broke," she said quietly.

"It was your idea to go down that way."

"And you listened. The next time I have an idea maybe I should just leave you out of it."

"And I have no doubt you'd manage to kill yourself within the hour!"

"If you're only here to yell at me," she said softly, "you might as well leave."

"Why? So you can take a run in the Forbidden Forest? Or maybe you want to take a swim with the giant squid?"

"Why are even getting so worked up by this? I'm the one that got hurt, not you."

He glared at her for a moment, seething.

"Do you have any idea what you look like when you get hurt?"

"Yes, Severus," she said sarcastically, "because when I'm falling through a flight of stairs I somehow manage to see myself."

Severus seemed to think for a moment and then calmed slightly, though he still looked like he wanted to shake some sense into her. He was going to show her where she fell. Maybe after she saw the blood that still splattered the dirt and the he height she'd fallen from she'd understand what it must have been like to watch.

"Come with me," he said suddenly, "I want to show you something."

Amanda didn't move. She couldn't walk yet, she hadn't even tried since that first night. Severus was already walking towards the door.

"Severus," she said softly, "I can't."

"You have never let Madame Pomfrey's orders stop you before."

"It – it's not that."

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know, I just… can't."

He sighed.

"I'm not going to yell either; I just want to show you something."

"I can't! Okay?"

Severus's face twisted back into anger again. Her protests were really starting to annoy him, why didn't she just stand up and come with him? Couldn't she put aside her hurt pride long enough to walk with him? It wasn't like she could sleep anyways.

Without warning Severus walked over and scooped her into his arms. He then proceeded to walk back towards the door.

"Severus! No, put me down!"

"As you wish," he said, and then he set her down on her feet.

Amanda wobbled precariously on one foot, unable even to use Severus as a support since he had stepped back. She was quite a ways from the bed, or anything else she could hold on to. She'd have to walk somewhere or get Severus to take her back. There was no way she was going to put her foot down.

"Take me back," she said quietly, trying not to look as panicked as she felt.

Severus was looking at her oddly. He was staring at her leg and watching her wobble on one foot. His gaze moved to her bed and rested on the cane that was still leaning against the wall, unused.

"No," he said, looking back at her.

"What?" she asked, incredulous.

He held her cane out to her and she snatched it, glaring at him fiercely. Amanda used the cane to hop forward, looking anything but graceful. She was shaking after a few hop/steps, having managed thus far to keep her bad leg off the floor. And then the cane slipped from under her.

With her full weight on just that leg it crumpled. It burned, it was like something had drilled a hole through her leg and filled it with molten metal. She screamed and fell to the ground, curling into a little ball and clutching her leg. She felt Severus's hands on her shoulder and screamed again.

"Damn it, Severus! Don't touch me!"

He didn't listen, of course. Instead he pulled her into his arms and cradled her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. Somewhere behind them a light flickered on and footsteps could be heard. Severus loosened his grip; he didn't want anyone to see them together. But one look into Amy's face changed his mind. He pressed her face back into his shoulder and tightened his grip, turning slightly to see whoever was coming towards them.

It was Madame Pomfrey.

"What in heavens name is going on? Who screamed? Severus, what are you doing? Who are you – Albus?"

Severus whipped around. Dumbledore was standing in the doorway, looking over them all with a sad smile. For a split second Severus considered leaving Amanda in the hands of Poppy and Dumbledore, she would understand in time, but he pushed the thought away.

Severus lifted her into his arms and stood up, looking for all the world as if he were daring anyone to take her form him, and carried her back to her bed.

"You don't have to –" Amanda started, whispering so only he could hear.

"I am."

Amanda nodded and tightened her grip on him, wishing she could just squeeze away all his doubt.

Behind them Dumbledore's smile grew, but there was sadness in his eyes. Perhaps he knew something she didn't. Certainly, the sheer amount of things he knew that she didn't could fill several books, but, he had been wrong before.

"Severus," said Poppy, rushing over to them. "What's going on? How did Amy get over there? Why are you here?" she turned to Amanda. "And what were you doing out of bed? You were trying to sneak off, weren't you? I knew you would eventually, but I thought you would at least have the sense to wait until someone was around to help you before you tried to walk, especially after what happened the last time."

Amanda pressed her face deeper into Severus's neck, tuning out Poppy and her ranting. The nurse meant well, but she'd heard it all before.

"It was my fault."

Well, she hadn't heard that one before.

"Severus?" asked Poppy, confusion in every syllable.

"I dragged her out of bed, and am now returning her to it," he said simply.

"Are you going all noble on me?" she teased, quiet enough that no one else could hear.

"Is there something the two of you would like to tell me?" asked Dumbledore, suddenly standing next to her bed.

Amanda considered lying; she knew Severus wouldn't want everyone prying in their business, but there was no mistaking the intimacy of their pose. Her head was tucked into the crook of Severus's neck, his lips at her forehead, and their arms were wrapped tightly around each other. She doubted very much that Dumbledore hadn't always known anyways. He'd probably known before she had.

"No," said Severus, still standing with his arms wrapped tight around Amanda.

"I've got something," Amanda said suddenly, "don't tell my mother."

"Don't tell me what?"

No one moved, no one said anything. The only sound was the soft padding of Professor McGonagall's feet as she approached them slowly.

"Someone somewhere must hate me very much," Amanda murmured, pressing her face into Severus's chest.

"Severus," said Minerva, sounding very much like she had to force the words between tight lips. "Would you mind telling me what you're doing holding my daughter like that?"

Amanda felt Severus tighten his arms, loosen them, and then tighten them again repeatedly, as if he were debating over what to do. He could make up a lie, she knew he could think of one in time, and she would not begrudge him this. Avoiding the disapproval of her mother was something she understood completely.

"Don't let go," he murmured.

Severus turned around slowly to face her mother, his face blank and emotionless as always. Amanda used her grip on his chest and stomach to push herself up so she could look over his shoulder.

"Professor McGonagall," he said smoothly, "this is unexpected."

"I surmised as much," she said coldly, her lips a thin line. "Amanda?"

She tightened her grip on Severus even more, briefly wondering if anyone in the room hadn't seen her do so. In that moment she decided that Severus was by far much braver than she was; he stood under her mothers gaze calmly, where as she, who was half hidden behind him, was too afraid to even speak.

"If you would all excuse us," said Minerva suddenly, "I would like to speak to my daughter, alone."

"Now, Minerva," said Poppy gently. "I really must protest, there's no need to discuss things now. She really should be resting."

But McGonagall ignored the old nurses' protests and waited patiently for her to leave.

"Minerva," said Dumbledore, "now really isn't the time to –"

"She is _my_ daughter, Albus, not yours."

"As you wish," he said quietly.

He looked hurt by her words, and Amanda wanted to smack her mother for being so cold.

"Go on," Amanda whispered, urging Severus to go ahead.

"You have to let go of me first."

She could almost feel the smirk behind his words, even though now really wasn't the time for humor. Amanda blushed slightly but let go, allowing him to walk slowly past her mother and through the hospital wing doors.

They waited until the soft sound of his footsteps had long faded away and still they did not speak. Amanda's heart was pounding in her chest and her leg throbbed angrily but still they said nothing. Her mother's cold gaze would normally have her spewing out an explanation by now, but the woman's harsh words to Dumbledore had made her angry, Dumbledore had as much right to her as she did. He'd always been there, whether she's known it or not.

"No," her mother said firmly, finally breaking the long silence.

"Big words," Amanda said coldly. "Do you have something against Severus or is it just men in general?"

"You can not possibly think that he feels for you in such a way!"

"Obviously he does, or he would have pushed me away like everyone else."

"Severus is still a man," Minerva said callously, "and you are an attractive woman, of course he would take the chance to be near you."

"What are you insinuating?" Amanda asked, her eyes hard.

"He is using you." Her mother spoke slowly, as if explaining something to very slow child.

"Do you think I'm so naive that I wouldn't be able to tell if he was lying to me? And do you think so little of him? Severus has been nothing short of a gentleman!"

"So this isn't a new development?" her mother said accusingly. "How long have you been allowing him to use you?"

"I haven't! And I wish you would stop looking at me like that! I'm not going to stop seeing him."

"We'll see about that."

"I'm quite old enough to choose who I spend my time with."

"Obviously you're still a child! You're _still_ getting into trouble, and now you can't stand, walk, or teach your own classes! You shouldn't even be here! The Headmaster should have sent you to St. Mongos and hired a replacement already."

"I don't need a replacement. I'm perfectly capable of teaching my own class."

"Oh really? Well then they must be planning to extend the school year because at the rate you're going you'll make it to your first class by early March."

Amanda slipped off the bed slowly, the can Dumbledore had replaced by her bedside clutched tightly in her hand. She ignored the wave of pain and stepped forward, once, twice, she didn't stop until she was right in front of her mother.

"We'll see about _that_."

With that she staggered out of the room and down the hall, leaving her mother behind. Amanda ignored the pain and instead focused on her anger, using that to fuel her down the halls to her room. She literally dragged herself up the stone steps, pausing after each one to catch her breath. It took forever to open the door, and longer still to drag herself onto the bed, where she lay, panting and gasping. She was shaking and covered in sweat. Her entire left side was burning from the throbbing in her leg and her breath came in gasps. Amanda threw the cane down and rolled over.

Tomorrow was Sunday; she would walk around, practice going up and down stairs, and then, on Monday she would start classes again. She'd be damned if she was going to let her mother tell her she was unfit to teach, and she especially wasn't going to let her tell her who to see.

"Early March," Amanda scoffed to herself angrily. "We'll see about that."

**Amanda's just getting into fights with everyone lately isn't she? I just noticed that. And it's amazing how many times you can hit your head without doing permanent damage. Anyways I know this update wasn't very quick, and I doubt the next one will be either, sorry. But I'm working on it, I have to decide where I want to go but after that things should pick back up, so bear with me! Thank you for reviewing!**


	49. The night before

"Oh hush, Fawkes, he'll get here when he gets here."

Amanda was brushing down Fawkes' flame colored plumage again. Dumbledore had been gone for a few days so she'd figured the phoenix could use some attention, and she liked to spend time with him, it was soothing.

The past couple of months had been interesting, as always in Hogwarts. For a long time after Amanda left the hospital wing Minerva had seemed to make it her duty to keep her and Severus separated. After a lot of pointed looks and forced coldness Amanda and Severus had managed to convince Minerva that they were nothing more than close friends, which got her to lay off, a little. Her mother had probably forgotten about them a bit anyways, since Amanda never really left her classroom or her bedroom.

It took her too long to get from the classroom to the great hall, not to mention how exhausting it was to make the trip there and back three times a day. She probably could have done it if she didn't refuse to use her cane. As it was she just asked Matilda to bring her her meals in the classroom, something the house elf was, as always, delighted to do. Sometimes Severus or Dumbledore would come and walk her down to dinner, and sometimes she would take breakfast down there, but most of the time she just stayed in her classroom and tried to exercise her leg.

Fawkes squawked again, spreading his wings and nearly smacking her in the face.

"Alright," she said, laughing slightly, "Come on then, if you're so smart."

She pushed herself out of the armchair in Dumbledore's study and limped heavily back into his office, following a very excited sounding Fawkes. If Dumbledore had somehow made it back to the other room without her hearing him she was going to invest in some of Fred and Georges Extendable Ears for permanent wear.

"There," she said, faking anger, "see? He's not here; you just made me walk all this way for nothing. It hurts, you know!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the fireplace burst into green flames and Dumbledore unfolded himself from within. The stupid bird could feel the man; she didn't know why she bothered to argue with him anymore.

"Cheater," she muttered.

"Pardon me?" asked Dumbledore politely. He looked exhausted.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

Water bubbled silently as she heated it with her wand, stirring in some hot chocolate to help warm Dumbledore up. She pushed him gently into his chair and handed him the cup before limping back around the desk.

"You really should use your cane," he said, watching her limp to a seat over the top of his steaming mug.

"You really should tell us where you've been disappearing to all year," she countered.

She wasn't too worried about what he was doing, he could take care of himself, but lately he'd been going more and more often, and she'd noticed that Severus was getting more and more tense as the year wore on. The two had to be connected, she just wished she knew what was wrong.

"Do you remember what I asked you to look for last year?"

Of course she remembered, it was hard to forget the screams and tortured faces that haunted her dreams when she was alone.

"Yes, you said there would be memories of objects hidden deep in his mind, almost as if he were trying to forget them himself."

"And do you remember what you found?"

"I remember the ring that you touched, the one that blackened your hand." He motioned for her to continue. "There was Slytherins locket, the snake, a diary, Hufflepuffs cup and the diadem of Ravenclaw. I can't really remember them though."

"I would assume that your mind is repressing those memories because they are not your own and because of the nature of most of them."

Amanda shuddered at the thought of them.

"That's probably true," she agreed.

"I'm looking for them," he said, drawing her attention back to him, "and, more significantly, I have found one. Tonight I will take Harry with me to retrieve it."

"What are they?" she asked.

He seemed to think for a long moment, as if deciding what he should tell her.

"I believe they will help bring about the fall of Lord Voldemort. And I would ask that you allow these objects to fade into the very back of your mind."

"You don't want to tell me how or, why do you?"

"I do not," he agreed.

"But you told Potter," she said, recalling that Harry had had several private meetings with Dumbledore over the year.

A soft smile appeared on Dumbledore's lips for a moment.

"That is exactly what Severus pointed out," he mused.

"You didn't tell Severus?"

"I did not."

"Do you not trust him?"

"It is not a matter of trust," he said. "But I prefer not to put all of my secrets in a man who spends so much of his time at the side of our enemies."

"Which he does only because you ask him to," she said indignantly.

"And he does it extremely well. Do not think that I have undervalued the work Severus does for me. I would trust no one else with his job."

"But you tell the boy whose mind is directly connected to Voldemorts?" she asked incredulously. "I have felt it myself, Dumbledore, that link is strong. Voldemort would easily be able to overpower the boy and learn everything."

"Now that he has used that link Voldemort fears it. He will not use it again," Dumbledore assured. "Now," he said, more forcefully this time, "I have had this argument before, with almost the same words being spoken, but I shall not end this one the same way."

Amanda sighed, she was only questioning because she _knew_ something was about to happen, she just wished she knew what.

"I trust you," she said softly. "I just worry."

"A habit you learned from your mother, I'm sure."

Amanda scoffed.

"If I ever become that _blind_, be sure to whack me over the head," she said, suddenly angry, she still hadn't forgiven the woman for interfering.

Dumbledore sighed, looking over steeped fingers at her scowling face. He looked infinitely sad for a few moments.

"She only seems blind because she doesn't want to run the risk of you being hurt. One could say that you are being just as stubborn when you refuse to use your cane."

Amanda winced at the forceful hint and stood up, moving easily towards the door.

"Alright, alright, if you're going to start on that I'm going to go. Besides, you look like you need a nap," she added. "And look, I can walk perfectly fine without it."

Indeed, as long as she hadn't been walking around for long periods of time she _could_ walk perfectly fine, without even a limp to betray that she wasn't perfectly well… it just hurt, a lot. Amanda smiled once more before moving to the door, already dreading the stone steps she'd have to go down in a minute.

"Amy," Dumbledore called.

He was holding a cane out to her. Amanda walked back and leaned over to snatch the cane from him, a scowl on her face, but he didn't let go. He was looking up her with sad eyes.

"All is not always as it seems, Amy," he said before letting go of her cane.

Amanda frowned and stood up straight. Dumbledore had looked back down at his desk and begun reading some paperwork, clearly she was dismissed. She left, still contemplating what he had said.

That had been weird. Dumbledore normally gave her a bit more to go than _that_. And why had he looked so sad when he said it? The customary twinkling smile had often been missing from Dumbledore's face this year, but recently she hadn't seen him smiling at all. He must now what was going to happen, maybe they were going to lose someone.

Amanda's blood ran cold and she shuddered. That couldn't be it; if someone was in danger then instead of looking sad about it Dumbledore would be doing something about it. But maybe he was.

Amanda scowled and shook herself mentally; there was no point in worrying about it. She growled lowly to herself when she realized that she'd used the stupid cane the whole way down. Perhaps Dumbledore had said that just to distract her so she would subconsciously use it, he was certainly crafty enough.

In any case the cane made a good door knocker, and she rapped it smartly against Severus's door before pushing it open. He was reading over some of his students papers, his customary frown etched on his face. She plopped down next to him and his arm reached out automatically to wrap around her waist. She smiled and scooted over so she was right next to him. And then she scooted over some more. And then she slid into his lap. He waited for a few moments, perhaps to see if she would move on her own.

"You know," he said, finally looking up at her. "You don't make a very good window."

"So you're telling me I can't grow up to be a great window?" she asked, sounding panicked and twisting her face into one of shock and sadness. "All I wanted was to be good enough to go in a church, or in an office of some sort."

Severus scowled but threw the papers back on the table anyways, leaning back and pulling her further into his lap. It wasn't like he couldn't use the break.

He closed his eyes and relaxed, basking in her warmth. He hadn't been his best lately and he knew it, he'd been rude or silent most nights, and when he did talk it was mostly just to snap at some insignificant thing she'd done. But as always Amanda had forgiven him each and every time, even snapping back at him every now and then. It was relaxing to know he could be himself, even when he was angry, and she would still be there when he cooled down.

Amanda followed his example, closing her eyes and listening to his heart beat. It was soothing and she was perfectly content to just lie against him and listen to its rhythmic beating until a sudden idea made her smirk.

"Severus?" she asked, smothering a smile.

"Yes, Amy?" he sighed.

"Will you tell me a story?"

She didn't have to look up to see the incredulous look on his face. But after a few moments of bewildered silence he decided to humor her.

"There once was a stupid little girl," he started.

Amanda glared and hit him, making him open one eye lazily.

"A beautiful, but stupid, girl," he amended.

She grumbled to herself but didn't hit him again so he continued.

"And she was very annoying," he added, trying not to let the smirk leak into his voice. "This stupid, beautiful, annoying girl went around poking her nose into everyone's business until one day a group of even more stupid ugly boys got fed up with it and drowned her in a lake. The end."

"That's a crappy story," she said finally, after letting it sink in for a minute.

"You think you could improve?"

"There once was a sheep named Steve –"

"No."

"What?"

"No sheep."

"What? Why?"

"No sheep," he said firmly.

"You're just doing that to mess with me aren't you?"

"Is it working?"

"Yes," she huffed.

"Good," he said simply, "But really no sheep."

"Fine. There once was a grumpy potions professor," she started again.

"How original," he said sarcastically.

"And this is the story of how he became so grumpy," she continued, ignoring him. "See, there was this beautiful girl he liked, but she did have this habit of sticking her nose where it didn't belong, and so people thought she was stupid and annoying. Now this young man was very smart, and he and the annoying girl would talk for hours at a time. But the young man had enemies, and, since the nosey girl had to be nosey, she confronted them. Perhaps she wasn't very smart after all, because they overpowered her and drowned her in the lake. This made the young man very sad, and he grew up to be very grumpy. The end."

"Yes, I see how that was _much_ better than mine," he said, the sarcasm so obvious a deaf man could have heard it.

"Well it would have been better if you'd let me use Steve," she insisted.

Severus just rolled his eyes and shifted to get more comfortable. Amanda smiled but then frowned slightly when she recalled something she'd been meaning to ask him about.

"Severus?"

"Do you have something against silence?" he asked, partially teasing but also partially serious.

"Sorry," she said quickly, "only I just remembered; you never got to show me whatever it was that had you worked up a few weeks ago, when I was in the hospital wing."

"It's not important," he muttered, after a long moment of silence.

"Obviously," she said sarcastically, "because you only _dragged_ me out of a hospital bed."

He sighed.

"Can you imagine seeing the one person you have left fall thirty feet to the ground, screaming in horror, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it?"

Severus's voice was dark, even angry sounding. Amanda swallowed, she could well imagine what it was like to see someone you cared about get hurt, but she had never really thought about how it must feel like for people to see _her_ get hurt. His arms around her had loosened to almost nonexistence and he wasn't even looking at her anymore, his eyes had a faraway look to them.

Amanda pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face into the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He didn't reply.

"Severus," she said. "I'm sorry, I never thought – I didn't know. Please say something."

Severus sighed once more and brought his hand up to briefly stroke her cheek before gently pushing her out of his lap.

"I'm going to sleep," he said quietly, "good night, Amy."

Amanda only hesitated a few moments, her head swirling with guilt before she followed him into his room. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, shirtless, and rubbing his neck as if it pained him. It was rather frightening, he never just sat like that, he would always do something about what was troubling him or lock it away, or at least yell at someone.

He hadn't noticed her enter, or perhaps he was just ignoring her. She decided it must be the later when he didn't react to her climbing onto the bed behind him. The only reaction she got was a tensing of his shoulders when she rand her hands up his back. His skin was so warm, she just wanted to press herself against him. But she didn't think that would help, so instead she pressed her fingers into his neck, kneading the muscles firmly to loosen him up.

It took several minutes for him to finally relax completely into her hands, she wasn't sure if it was because she was a terrible masseuse or because he was just being stubborn. She suspected it was a combination of the two.

She pulled him back against her so his head was resting on her chest and kissed his forehead gently, wrapping her arms around his chest tightly and closing her eyes. If he didn't speak soon she would let him be, as he so obviously wanted, and then see if he was still silent the next day.

"You have a very soft chest," he said, finally.

"You old perverted Potions Master!" she cried with mock anger, suddenly smiling brightly with relief.

She leaped out from under him and covered her chest with her arms jokingly, relieved he was joking with her again.

"Surly even you," he said, a grin hiding behind his carefully blank face, "can remember that I'm an old perverted Defense against the Dark Arts Professor. And I'm not that much older than you," he added.

"Oh you're right," she said, as if only just noticing. "I think I may have to go pay Slughorn a visit. I mean, there's just something about a good Potions Professor that really gets me going."

His eyes seemed to darken slightly and he straightened up, watching her.

"Is Defense against the Dark Arts not good enough for you?"

"Bubbling cauldrons, hot steam… it's all just so terribly… sexy." The very thought of Slughorn and 'sexy' made her cringe inside but she ignored it. She smirked and started for the door. "I wonder if he's in his office…"

And then suddenly Severus was there. The door slammed shut and she was pushed against it, his warm chest against her back and his lips centimeters from her ear. One hand was against the wall beside her head and the other gripped her waist tightly.

Her heart was racing, first because of the door slamming shut, then because of how speedily he'd gotten behind her, and lastly simply from of just how close he actually was. There was virtually no space between them, and only the cloth of her shirt kept his skin from warming hers.

His hand slid under her shirt, only so far as to rest his warm palm on her lower stomach, but the heat was enough to make Amanda roll her head back, involuntarily giving him much better access to her tender neck.

"What makes you think I would ever allow you to leave?" he said darkly, nearly growling into her neck.

"Feeling a bit possessive, are we?" she teased.

And then he was moving again. He flipped her around and all but ravaged her neck, kissing and suckling below her jaw line until she moaned loudly and arched her back. She could feel him smirk as he attacked that spot again and again but she didn't have the breath to do anything about it. Instead it was all she could do not to throw herself on him.

That didn't prevent her from frantically ripping the buttons off her own shirt, however, because the feel of his skin against her own would feel so perfect. Severus seemed to get the hint because he took over for her, moving back just long enough for him to pull it off her and throw the garment to the ground.

It had been far too long, for both of them. She'd been keeping her distance since she'd re-broken her leg, she just felt too clumsy and awkward to be so close.

All awkwardness was forgotten, however, as Severus lifted her up and moved them back to the bed. He didn't move to cover her immediately with his body though, instead taking a moment to just look her over.

Amanda blushed and tried to cover her chest with her arms but Severus scowled. In one quick movement he had somehow shed her of her pants and underpants. She shivered for a moment at the sudden cold but he didn't leave her long, his warm body was against hers almost immediately.

"About time," she grumbled, "I thought you were just going to stare –"

And then his lips were on hers, effectively shutting her up. Amanda's body immediately tried to mold against his, her back arching up to meet his chest. His hands moved up and down her sides, making her squirm and gasp beneath him. He chuckled lowly and moved his lips down to her chest.

Before she could react he had pinned her arms down, ensuring that she wouldn't be able to escape him, not that she'd ever want to. His hot tongue flicked over the taut buds over and over again, making her squirm and fight to free her arms, she needed more, she needed to touch him.

But Severus seemed bent on torturing her for her earlier comments; his tongue moved down her stomach to her waistline. He kissed one thigh, then the other, moving closer and closer to her center but not close enough.

"Slughorn?" he asked, cruelly speaking with his lips pressed just below her waistline. Her skin hummed with the vibration from his voice.

"Never," she gasped.

"Are you sure? Because he might be in his office, I could find him, if you want?"

He was smirking again, damn him, he was enjoying her torture. She didn't respond this time, allowing herself to be carried away by his continued kissing and the hot breath he was letting drift over her hot skin.

"So you don't want me to go get him?" he pressed, now pressing one hand gently against her warmth. Her hips bucked against him but he moved his hand back, not giving her an inch until she answered him.

"No, you sadistic bastard, I don't want you to go and get him!"

She all but screamed when he slid a finger into her. After a few moments she thought she was going to explode but he pulled back, making her whimper from the sudden loss.

He wasn't gone long, just long enough to strip his pants and then he was back and covering her body again. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. For once she wasn't surprised by his sudden thrust into her, but as always the sheer heat and size of him made her scream. Her nails dragged across his back and he bit harder on her sweet spot, loving the moans and soft screams she uttered with each thrust.

Amanda screamed once more, finally releasing with him not far behind. He rolled off her but then pulled her back against him almost immediately, kissing the spot on her neck he'd ravaged so thoroughly. There was sure to a monster of a bruise there later but he could face her wrath for that.

She snuggled closer to him as he pulled the blankets up, nearly half asleep already from the rhythmic beating of his heart. His strong arms around her were so inviting, so strong and safe that she couldn't help but allow herself to drift off.

Her last thoughts before sleep claimed her were of how she would enact revenge for his torture, she would definitely get him next time. But then again, maybe she shouldn't tease him too much, considering how tense he'd been lately. She decided she'd confront Dumbledore once more about what was going on in the morning, after he returned with Harry and whatever object he was going after.

**Alright, I know this chapter kind of sucked, especially after how long I made you all wait. I'm sorry, but the next one should be way better! Because you all know what happens next right? We get to go back into the action! Yeah! I'll post it either late tonight or early tomorrow, I swear! Please review, and forgive me for not posting! Thank you for the reviews from last chapter.**


	50. Good Bye Forever

Something was moving around. Amanda could hear them, whoever it was was throwing previously discarded clothing around and muttering darkly. With an almost barbaric groan of displeasure Amanda opened one eye to see Severus searching for something on the ground. It was strange, the only things on the ground were their clothes, and Severus wouldn't put those back on, he'd just get a fresh pair.

"Severus?" she murmured, opening the other eye to watch him fully.

In the blink of an eye he was by her side, leaning over her before she could sit up.

"Go back to sleep," he said, sounding rather strained.

"Where are you going?"

"I just need to take care of some things," he hesitated before continuing, "don't worry."

He started to sit back up but she grabbed his arm and crashed her lips against his. He was instantly on top of her, pressing her down on the bed again and kissing her passionately, almost demandingly. Amanda's fingers wove through his hair and his arms wrapped around her tightly. But all too soon he pulled away. His eyes were closed and he almost looked like he was in pain.

"What's wrong?" she asked as he pulled away again.

"Go back to sleep, Amy."

It wasn't really the way he spoke that scared her, it was his eyes. They were full of emotion, stern, pleading, desperate, _loving_. The mix was frightening. She followed him with her eyes as he moved away.

"Where is your wand, Amy?" he asked suddenly, not looking at her anymore.

"In the sleeve of my robe, where it always is," she said. "Why?"

He found the mentioned garment and found the wand quickly. She held her hand out, thinking he was going to give it to her, but he didn't, he just moved to the door, still not looking at her.

"Severus, why are you…"

The look on his face stopped her cold, she knew that look. It was the look he got every time he distanced himself from her; it was a cold look, one that made her feel like the lowest slime on the Earth. And then he closed the door and the lock clicked loudly in the dungeon room.

"Severus?" she called, climbing off the bed and reaching for the door. It didn't budge. "Severus, what are you doing? Open the door!"

No answer.

"Severus!"

She pounded on the door violently, calling out for someone, anyone. Severus had left her wandless, trapped in the dungeons.

_Carlisle!_ She called, pulling her clothes on quickly.

**I don't know what's going on, **he said immediately, to her unspoken question. He sounded confused

Amanda cast out with her mind, looking frantically for Dumbledore, but he wasn't there. She tried Harry next but he too was gone. This was bad. She was supposed to protect Harry and here she was, trapped in the dungeons with no wand. It was a small relief to know that Harry was probably still with Dumbledore, but she didn't know how they would be returning, as far as she knew there could be an ambush waiting for them. Voldemort had obviously planned something, and Severus knew what it was.

Something above her boomed loudly, shaking the very foundations of the school. She had to get up there. But how?

And then suddenly, it dawned on her: _Peeves_! He could go anywhere, and move anything he wanted. She stepped away from the door, forcing back the anxiety and panic welling in her chest, and focused solely on Peeves. She'd never tried to contact a ghost or a poltergeist like this before, she only hoped it worked.

_Peeves!_ She called.

Shock flared back at her. **What's this then? Has Peevesy finally fallen off his rocker?**

_Peeves, it's me, Amy. I need your help!_

**At your service, Miss! **The tone was rather joking and bewildered but he meant it, she could feel the determination behind his words, much like the time Fred and George had charged him to give Professor Umbridge hell.

_I'm locked in the dungeons… In Severus's room. I don't have my wand either, I'm stuck._

To his credit Peeves neglected to make any rude comments about her being in Severus's room so late at night. Perhaps he felt her desperation, or simply respected her enough to leave her alone for once. She tended to think it was the former.

After what felt like an hour but was actually only a few minutes later Peeves stuck his head through the door.

"Little Amy-kins," Peeves said, scolding, and suddenly popping his head in through the door. "You should know better than to leave your wand lying on the ground."

Her wand suddenly rolled in through the crack under the door and Amanda snatched it greedily. It seemed Severus hadn't bothered to keep it with him, or maybe he had left it on purpose, in case she escaped.

Amanda wasted no more thought to it and pointed her wand at the door, causing it to explode outward violently. She thought of it as pay back for ditching her in the dungeon room when something was clearly going on.

"Thanks Peeves!" she called, already racing away down the hall.

Her bare feet slapped the cold stone loudly, or at least it seemed loud to her. She had no idea where to go, there weren't any signs of a struggle anywhere. Amanda groaned before casting out with her mind once more. Severus had gone to the Astronomy Tower, and that was all she was able to find before a sudden wave of light headedness nearly caused her to run headlong into a suit of armor.

On her way to the tower base Amanda saw several students in groups, who looked as if they had come out to see what was going on.

"Back to bed!" she snarled, otherwise ignoring them.

Her leg started to hurt from the running; she had left her cane behind, not that she could have run with it anyways. As she approached the tower base yells and cries of pain echoed down the hallway to her, she was almost there.

Just outside the stairway to the tower was an absolute mess. There were huge cracks in the ceiling and half the lights seemed to have gone out. In fact, the only way she could really see what was happening was from the flashes of light from various spells from the dueling pairs before her.

At a quick glance she saw her mother, Tonks and Remus, along with several other members of the order fighting various Death Eaters. Amanda jumped in without hesitation, deflecting a nasty curse that had been headed for her mother.

"Where have you been?" Minerva yelled, sounding just like the mother she truly was.

"I was busy," she said darkly, dodging a few curses and retaliating with her own blast of fire. "What's going on?" she added, shouting over the noise.

"We're not sure," grunted Remus, falling in behind her, so they were back to back. "The Death Eaters somehow got in and put up that barrier around the tower, we can't get in."

"Have you seen Severus?" she asked, remembering that she had used him to find them all hear.

"Yeah, he ran through the barrier, probably because he's got the Dark Mark."

"Alright," she said, angling herself so nothing was between her and the opening of the staircase. "I'll go up there and see what's going on."

And then she took off running.

"Wait!" Remus yelled. "Amy, you'll never get through the barrier!"

She ignored him and transformed mid-step, knowing her animagus form would be enough to get her through the barrier. A second later she was human again and pelting up the stairs after Severus. She slowed only when she reached the top and heard, not fighting, but voices. At the top of the stairs she saw four Death Eaters, Severus and Draco standing on the rooftop. The Dark Mark glowed eerily above them and they all seemed to be waiting for something.

Somewhere behind Severus was Dumbledore, still leaning weakly against the wall, but she didn't know that, she couldn't see him through Severus anymore then she could see the invisible Harry.

All eyes turned on her as soon as she stepped through the door. Amanda stared into Severus's expressionless eyes; whose side was he on at the moment? She waited for him to make the first move, keeping the other four in the corner of her eye and her wand held firmly in her hand. And then she heard it, that pitiful sound that frightened her and sent shivers running up and down her spine.

"Severus…please…"

It was Dumbledore, leaning against the far wall and looking weaker then she could ever have imagined him looking. And he was pleading, _begging_ in fact. Severus's face twisted into hatred and he turned, raised his wand, and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. He rose into the air, and for a moment seemed to hang in the unearthly glow under the shining skull, and then he fell slowly backwards over the battlements and out of sight.

Her heart seemed to stop. Amanda couldn't believe it, it wasn't possible. The other Death Eaters shot spells her way and she deflected them automatically, more out of habit then any motive to protect herself, she was still staring blankly at Snape. Something large and grimy barreled into her, tearing her gaze away from Snape and sending her crashing into the wall and then down to the stone floor. Whoever or whatever it was was scratching at her, their long nails digging into her neck. Filthy, matted hair fell in her face, the stench of blood and sweat filling her nose, their hot breath was at her throat.

"Out of here, quickly," said Snape.

She saw several pairs of feet flash by out of the corner of her eye, it was all she could see with whomever it was pressing her into the stone. Severus's voice identified the person above her, "Fenrir, we don't have time for this!"

"I'll be back for you, my pet," rasped Fenrir, his horrid breath right in her face.

And then he was gone, they all were. Then out of no where Harry appeared, he raced through the entryway and then thundered down the stairs after the Death Eaters while Amanda was left lying on the ground in shock.

_Harry._

She jumped to her feet and scrambled for her wand before following them down the staircase. She had to stop Harry before he caught up to the others, if they killed him everything would be lost, everything the wizarding world had worked for these past sixteen years, everything Dumbledore had worked for.

The dimly lit corridor at the bottom of the stairs was full of dust; half the ceiling had fallen in and the battle was still raging. She heard Severus shouting, "It's over, time to go!" and then he disappeared around the corner. Harry plunged after him, seeming to ignore the fighting still going on around him. Fenrir launched himself from the fray, tackling Harry and going for his throat.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Fenrir collapsed on top of Harry. Someone else detached themselves from the fighting and flew towards her, flinging spells Amanda's way. She deflected them all, dodging the ones she couldn't shield herself against. It only took a few moments to disarm the inexperienced Death Eater, but it was enough time for Harry to disappear around the corridor.

She saw her mother, Remus, and Ron dueling beside each other, each against separate Death Eaters. Tonks was fighting an enormous blond wizard who was shooting spells in all directions, shattering windows and blasting chunks of stone from the walls. Amanda ignored them; sprinting in the direction she thought Snape and the other Death Eaters would be going. She turned down a shortcut, passing a herd of confused looking Hufflepuffs.

"Back to your dormitory!" she shouted, not slowing down.

Another few moments and she was racing through the broken oak doors and out onto the grounds. Hagrids hut was on fire, the flames dancing over the grounds lit up the faces of everyone nearby and guided Amanda towards them. Fang was howling loudly, still trapped inside the burning hut as Hagrid fought to get past the Death Eater in front of him and rescue his beloved pet. She flicked her wand at the larger Death Eater, not stopping to watch him keel over in pain. Harry was lying on the ground, is wand feet from his hand, and Severus standing above him, his face suffused with hatred.

"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?" shouted Snape. "It was I who invented them – I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so… _no_!"

Harry had dived for his wand; Severus shot a hex at it and it flew away into the darkness and out of sight. Amanda picked up her pace, she was still too far away to really do anything, and there was too much risk of hitting Harry.

"Kill me then," panted Harry. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward –"

"DON'T CALL ME COWARD!" screamed Snape, his face suddenly twisted with so much rage it was demented and inhuman.

Amanda raised her wand just as he did, their spells meeting in a clash of silver light and sparks. Her shield charm wasn't enough and Harry flew backwards, hitting the ground hard. Severus turned and ran, leaving Amanda to chase after him. Buckbeak thundered passed her, going after Snape and she took the chance, turning instead to tend to Harry rather then chase Snape. She should have gone after Severus, to stop him from getting away, but she couldn't. Instead she knelt down beside Harry and checked him for injuries, running her wand over the purple welts that had appeared already from Severus's last attack.

Amanda pulled Harry to his feet and looked around, Buckbeak was circling the gates, Severus had escaped; Hagrid's hut was still on fire and she could still hear Fang howling in pain, but Hagrid had disappeared. Harry seemed to have noticed as well.

"Hagrid," he muttered, looking around. "HAGRID?"

They stumbled towards the hut just as Hagrid emerged from the flames carrying Fang on his back. Harry swayed a little and Amanda put her arm around him, helping him stand. He was shaking all over and his breaths were coming in short gasps. She would have been thankful that she wasn't on the verge of collapse but she couldn't feel anything, she was completely in shock still.

"Yeh all righ', Harry? Yeh all righ'? Speak ter me, Harry…"

Amanda squeezed the boys' shoulders a bit, pulling him out o his daze.

"I'm all right," he panted. "Are you?"

"Course I am… take more'n that ter finish me."

Feeling that Harry could once again stand on his own Amanda moved away, pointing her wand at Hagrids hut and dowsing it with water. Harry and Hagrid joined her, and it only took them a few moments to extinguish the last of the flames.

"S'not too bad," said Hagrid hopefully, assessing the smoking hut. "Nothin' Dumbledore wont be able to put righ'…"

Amanda expected a stab of pain at his words, but she still didn't feel it.

"Hagrid…" said Harry.

"But what happened, Amy? I jus' saw them Death Eaters runnin' down from the castle, but what the ruddy hell was Snape doin' with 'em? Where's he gone – was he chasin' them?"

"He…" Harry cleared his throat. "Hagrid, he killed…"

"Killed?" said Hagrid loudly, staring down at Harry. "Snape killed? What're yeh on abou', Harry?"

"Dumbledore," Amanda said, when Harry seemed unable to speak. "Severus killed Dumbledore.

"I'm surprised at yeh, Amy," said Hagrid roughly. "Snape kill Dumbledore – don' be stupid. Yeh know Snape better then anybody, yeh know he wouldn't do any such thing. What's made yeh say that?"

"I saw it," she said simply.

"Yeh couldn' have."

"I saw it, Hagrid."

Hagrid shook his head, his face disbelieving. Amanda didn't blame him, she had seen it and she still didn't believe it.

"What musta happened was, Dumbledore musta told Snape ter go with them Death Eaters," Hagrid said confidently. "I suppose he's gotta keep his cover. Look, let's get yeh back ter the school. Come on, Harry, Amy…"

Neither one of them tried to explain, Hagrid would find out soon enough… As they walked back up to the castle, they could see that many of the windows were lit now. She could imagine people running from room to room, explaining that Death Eaters had somehow gotten into the castle, that the Dark Mark was shining over Hogwarts, that someone must have died. People had started to move toward the place where Dumbledore's body must lie.

"What're they all lookin' at?" said Hagrid as they approached. "Wha;s tha', lyin' on the grass?" Hagrid added sharply, now moving towards it as well. "See it? Righ' at the foot o' the tower? Under where the Mark… Blimey… yeh don' think someone got thrown –"

Hagrid hadn't finished the thought, it was too terrible, it seemed, for him to finish it. As they stepped through the crowd all the little aches and pains from the night suddenly came to Amanda's attention, her head was pounding in time to each step, her heart was thudding painfully, still, from the race down from the grounds, her arm seemed to be on fire, and none of her muscles seemed to want to work, she felt like jelly, extremely heavy jelly. And it suddenly became apparent to her that someone must have filled her leg with molten lead, it burned so much. She noticed all these things in a detached sort of way, not really caring, but the overwhelming numbness was starting to scare her, why wasn't she feeling hurt by this? Severus had just _killed_ Dumbledore! Why didn't she feel anything?

The three of them moved, dreamlike, through the crowd of shocked students and teachers, to where they had left a gap right at the very front.

Hagrid moaned in pain and shock, but neither she nor Harry stopped, they moved forward until they were right next to the fallen professor. Harry crouched down beside him while Amanda stayed standing, watching the boys' movements. He straightened Dumbledore's half moon spectacles upon his crooked nose, wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, and then just stared down.

If she had to guess she would say that he was trying to absorb the truth; that Dumbledore would never again smile down at them with a twinkle in his eye, that he would never again help them or share his wisdom. There would be no more late night hot chocolate parties, no one to give muggle puzzles to, no Fawkes to calm them all down with his beautiful cry, no wall to hold back everything evil in the world. They were on their own.

After several moments of just staring down at him Ginny stepped up and pulled Harry away. Amanda sighed and turned to Hagrid.

"Hagrid, can you –"

"'O course," he said, after moaning in pain once more.

"Come on," she said, her voice surprisingly normal sounding, pushing students back away from Hagrid and Dumbledore. Several of the students were crying or looked terrified. "It'll be alright, now come on, you have to at least try to sleep."

It wouldn't be alright though, Dumbledore was dead. Severus was gone. She didn't know who else might have been lost this night. How could anything ever be alright again?

But none of this worried her, she spoke automatically, without really noticing what she said. Professor Sprout was moving through the crowd, helping to shuffle them all inside and back to their dorms.

"Professor Slughorn," she said, "will you inform the Ministry?"

He nodded and shuffled off, his face sweaty and scared looking. She hoped he wouldn't run away, much as she didn't like him, they would need him; they needed all the help they could get at this point.

Once all the students were inside and moving towards their dorms Amanda made her way to the hospital wing, knowing that that was where she would find everyone else. The first voice she heard was Lupin's, he was talking to someone about werewolf bites.

"No, I don't think Bill will be a true werewolf," said Lupin. It seemed Fenrir had gotten to Bill as well. "But that does not mean there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely to ever heal fully, and – and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on.

Lupin was right to say they were cursed bites, she knew her own scar was burning painfully across her stomach, but she couldn't really feel it, she still couldn't feel anything but shock at the moment. Bill was lying on a hospital bed, his face slashed so badly that his face was unrecognizable.

"Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," said Ron. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state –"

"Dumbledore is dead," Amanda said, finally stepping up to the group.

"No!"

Lupin looked from her to Harry, as if hoping one of them would contradict what she had just said. When they both remained silent, however, he collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed, his hands over his face.

"How did he die?" whispered Tonks. "How did it happen?"

"Severus killed him," Amanda said. "I saw it," she added, when Tonks looked like she didn't believe her. Remus looked up at her when she mentioned Severus, his face looking shocked and what she dearly hoped wasn't pity flickering in his eyes.

Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and Ron groaned. Luna's mouth trembled. Madame Pomfrey burst into tears. Nobody paid her any attention except Ginny, who whispered, "Shh! Listen!"

Somewhere out in the darkness, Fawkes was singing a stricken lament of terrible beauty. Amanda still couldn't feel the pain; she didn't even feel the beauty of the song the way she usually did, nothing seemed to be able to get through the numbness that seemed to have encased her.

What seemed like a long time later the hospital doors opened again and Professor McGonagall entered the ward. Like everyone else, she bore marks of the recent battle: There were grazes on her face and her clothes were ripped.

"Molly and Arthur are on the way," she said, and the spell the music had over the others was broken: Everyone turned to look at Bill or rub their own eyes and shake their heads. "Amanda, what happened? According to Hagrid you and Harry were with Dumbledore when he – when it happened. He sys Professor Snape was involved in some –"

"Severus killed Dumbledore," Amanda said, repeating herself for what had to be the fifth time that night.

Minerva stared at her for a moment and then swayed alarmingly; Madame Pomfrey, who seemed to have pulled herself together, rushed forward, conjuring a chair from thin air, which she pushed under McGonagall.

"Snape," she repeated faintly, falling into the chair. "We all wondered…" Wrong, Amanda had never wondered, had always trusted Severus, but Professor McGonagall continued. "But he trusted… always… _Snape_… I can't believe it…"

"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," said Lupin, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. "We always knew that."

"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't…"

"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered Minerva, now dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a tartan-edged handkerchief. "I mean… with Snape's history… of course people were bound to wonder… but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine… Wouldn't hear a word against him!"

"I'd love to know what Snape told Dumbledore to convince him," said Tonks.

"I know," said Harry, and they all turned to look at him. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realized what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."

Wrong, Amanda thought, he hadn't been sorry _they_ were dead, just Lily, always Lily.

"And Dumbledore believed that?" said Lupin incredulously. "Dumbledore believed that Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James…"

"And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, "because she was muggle-born… 'Mudblood,' he called her..."

"Wrong," Amanda said dully, "he cared very much for Lily. He even begged Voldemort not to kill her."

Nobody had asked how she or Harry knew what they knew. All of them seemed to be lost in horrified shock. Lupin suddenly stood up, glaring at Amanda.

"Why do you always defend him?" he shouted angrily. "You've always defended him! Even though we warned you! Why? Why can't you understand that it's wrong?"

"I don't know," she whispered, shaking her head hopelessly.

Remus seemed to deflate a bit, realizing what he'd said.

"I didn't mean –"

"I know."

"I'm sorry –"

"I know."

"Amy –"

"I know, you're just…. It's a shock."

He felt bad for saying what he had, all this had to be much more of a shock to her, after all, she had been closer to Severus and Dumbledore than any of them. Several of them looked rather awkward, suddenly realizing that out of all of them she was the one who had spent the most time with Severus.

"Someone should tell Aberforth," she said dully, breaking into the conversation unexpectedly.

"I'll send an owl –" Minerva started.

"I'll tell him," Amanda said, standing up suddenly. "I'll tell him, and when I come back we can talk about next year… or you can all tell me what you've decided… or… whatever…"

She walked out then, not really caring what they thought she was leaving for; she'd told them that she was coming back though, that was all that mattered, she wasn't running this time.

She passed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley on the stairs, with Fleur right behind them.

"Madame McGonagall!" cried Fleur, all of them stopping. "Is it true, what they are saying?" Amanda held up her hands, halting Mrs. Weasley who looked as if she were going to repeat Fleur.

"Dumbledore is dead, Severus killed him." Molly sobbed at her words but Amanda continued, still feeling nothing. "Bill will be alright, but his face is a bit… different. He will not transform, but he may act a little different."

"My boy!" Mrs. Weasley raced up the stairs, sobbing slightly. Fleur and Mr. Weasley were right behind her.

Carlisle was bearing down on her mind, trying to get her to let him in and talk to him but she ignored him. He was too far away to be able to physically reach her anytime soon and she was glad, she just wanted to be alone. Her feet took her into the Forbidden Forest and she let them, not caring where she ended up.

Soon enough Amanda noticed that she had to watch her where she stepped, there were spiders everywhere, they covered the forest floor like some sort of living carpet, all moving even farther into the forest. She followed them, not even noticing when the spiders started to thin out and grow larger, they hung from thin strands of thread all around her, but she just kept walking, further and further into the darkness. It was stupid; she knew there were giant spiders in the forest, courtesy of Hagrid, but she couldn't turn back. Spiders terrified her; she wanted to feel something, anything. If fear was what did it then that was perfectly okay with her.

The forest was almost completely dark now, she couldn't see her hands in front of her face, but she could hear things moving, big things. Amanda lifted her wand and light flooded the clearing, illuminating the giant spiders she'd been expecting to find. They surrounded her. The light flickered, once, twice, and then went out. She flicked her wand again and the light returned, sputtering for a moment and then going out again.

Amanda was starting to feel the fear she had wanted to feel, it was flooding her being now. Why wasn't her wand working? She hadn't expected this, to be in the forest without the protection of her magic.

Amanda tried to conjure a ring of fire to protect her but all that came out was a thin flame that vanished almost instantly. Amanda took a step back and collided with something soft and hairy.

It suddenly struck Amanda as funny that she wasn't really afraid that the spiders were going to _kill_ her, it was just the spiders themselves that scared her. She doubled over in laughter, the sound coming out harsher then usual and taking her breath away.

From her right a loud noise was approaching, louder even than her misplaced laugher. It sounded like something was crashing through the underbrush with reckless abandon. Light suddenly flooded the clearing again and Amanda realized that a large spider had been just in front of her, its large head less then a foot from hers. A blue Ford Angela crashed into the clearing, knocking over spiders and coming to a stop just in front of Amanda and throwing open its doors.

She just stared at it for a moment, unsure about the wisdom of getting into a car that clearly had a mind of its own, but then something touched her leg and Amanda jumped in, the door slamming shut behind her. The car roared to life, its large engine humming loudly as they crashed through the bracken and large spiders. Each spider they hit thudded loudly against the cars frame, jostling them around even more haphazardly then she could have imagined.

Her fingers fumbled with the seat belt, a vision of them hurtling into a tree and her flying through the windshield forming in her mind. The thuds from crashing into the spiders grew less and less frequent as they raced away and eventually stopped all together. Amanda wondered where the car was taking her as they hurtled through the trees, the car sometimes turning violently as they went. After a few more minutes the car slowed and pulled to a stop, her seatbelt unbuckling itself and the door opening of its own accord. They were just outside the forest, near the Hogwarts gates. She got out slowly, just to make sure walking was something her legs could handle and the car backed up, moving back into the forest slowly.

It was now time to walk down to the Hog's Head and tell Aberforth of his brother's death; the worst part was that she wasn't sure he would even be sad.

She grabbed a large stick to use a cane and walked, it was obvious that her magic wasn't working properly and if she died trying to Appirate to the Hog's Head no one would ever tell Aberforth what had happened, not that everyone wouldn't know by mid-day tomorrow, but still, Aberforth deserved to be told personally.

All of the doors and windows in Hogsmeade were shut tight, and not a single light seemed to shine through the cracks, people were afraid. They must have seen the Dark Mark go up and shut themselves in, waiting for daylight when someone was sure to come down and explain what was going on.

Amanda wasn't surprised to see a light flickering in the Hog's Head, Aberforth wasn't afraid of someone attacking him, he could deal with it, and he was smart enough to realize that whatever was happening at the school was happening _at the school_ and wasn't likely to spread to Hogsmeade this night.

She knocked on the door, not out of politeness, it was a public bar after all, but so that Aberforth wouldn't blast her head off thinking she was someone else.

"Amy," he said, as soon as she had limped through the door, "you look terrible, what's going on?"

Amanda looked down at herself, he was probably right about her looking terrible: her robes were in tatters; blood still dripped slowly from her left sleeve; she could feel bits of twigs and leaves in her hair and she didn't doubt that someone's blood was smeared across her cheek, she could feel it sticking to her skin sickeningly. She felt grimy and sweaty.

"There was an attack, up at the school," she said quietly.

"I can see that, the Dark Marks been hovering for over an hour now, how'd they get in?"

She shook her head a little.

"We don't know."

"Well what do you know?" he asked, sounding disproving. "Why're you down here anyways?"

"Dumbledore –"

"– What does my scheming brother want now? I've told him I'm not helping him in his twisted plots so he sends you now, eh? Well I won't have it! He couldn't even give you time to recover –"

"– is dead."

"– the arrogant – what?"

"Dumbledore is dead," she repeated, no matter how many times she said it there always seemed to be a need to say it again, she wondered how many more times she would need to say it this night.

"How?"

"Severus Snape killed him."

"The former Death Eater?"

She could only nod.

"I guess it's not so 'former' now, is it?"

That hurt. It all hurt now. Before when they had all talking about Severus it hadn't affected her, she just soaked it all up. Now it felt more like Aberforth was driving a blunt steak into her chest.

"Always warned you lot about him, didn't I? But you all trusted him, and now look where it's gotten you."

Amanda blinked slowly, trying not to let the pain show on her face. She motioned towards the bar, now seemed like a pretty good time for a drink and Aberforth nodded, joining her at the bar. He waved vaguely at the cabinet where the glasses were and sat down, leaving her to fetch the glasses and the bottle of Fire Whiskey. Amanda flicked her wand at the cabinet and it creaked open slowly. She flicked it again and a glass slowly slid off the shelf, dropping several inches before becoming steady again and floating slowly in their direction. Halfway to them it wobbled and then fell, crashing to the floor and shattering. Aberforth stared at it and then turned to her.

"You alright?"

She nodded and tried to fix the glass; the pieces moved and bounced on the floor but didn't fly together.

"Get another glass," he said.

She tried, really she did, but this was even worse. The glass slid slowly off the edge of the cabinet, stopping every few centimeters, and crashed immediately to the floor. This time the pieces didn't even move when she tried to fix it. Aberforth didn't look upset that she kept breaking his glasses, just thoughtful.

"Did you Appirate here?"

She shook her head, letting her wand arm hang limply at her side. Aberforth stroked his beard thoughtfully once more.

"Who was this Snape guy?"

Another stab from the blunt steak.

"What do you mean?" she rasped.

"You weren't _that_ fond of my brother, not enough to cause this."

Amanda sighed and rested her head on the bar.

"Don't tell," she said.

"You can't go around pretending to have magic, people will get hurt because of it, and then you would probably die trying to fix it."

"I'll get it back," she said firmly. "I just need a little time. I'm not really myself right now."

Aberforth got up and fixed the glasses, putting them on the bar in front of Amanda. He poured them both a generous amount of Fire Whiskey and then sat back down, sipping quietly. Amanda relished the burning feeling when she tipped the liquid down her throat, it was powerful stuff. She drank it slowly, savoring every moment that she wasn't at the castle.

"You never said who Snape was," he pointed out, filling another glass for her. She downed this one quickly, needing the numbing feeling it would bring, and needing the pain she was sure to endure later.

"Another," she rasped.

"Not until you tell me," he reasoned. She scowled.

"You seem to already know anyways," she said sourly. Aberforth remained silent and after a moment she sighed. "Just one more," she whispered. "And he is… was… I care for him very deeply – cared – care –" she hiccupped slightly and let the third glass slide down her throat. When her glass was empty Aberforth cleared it away.

"There's beds in the back," he said, "go get some rest."

She shook her head, "I can't, I've got to get back to the castle."

"Now?"

"Now, I was only supposed to tell you the news and then come back, and I took my sweet time getting here too," she added, remembering her little adventure in the Forbidden Forest.

"They can wait," he said.

Amanda slid off her stool and started walking away.

"No," she said, pausing at the door. "I will wait, and I think I'll have enough time to wallow soon enough."

"Amy," he suddenly called.

She turned around and froze. Aberforth was holding a can out to her. Amanda slowly reached out to take it, remembering a similar scene with the other Dumbledore o more than a few hours ago. Dumbledore's voice rang in her head, _Things are not always as they seem._

Things were exactly as they seemed. Dumbledore was dead, she'd _felt_ it, his mind had left, there was no more Dumbledore! And Severus had done it, he had betrayed them all. What there could possible be different than what it seemed? She raced to the door quickly, trying to shake the memory from her mind.

"You're always welcome Amy," he called, just before the door swung shut.

**See? I promised another review tonight and here it is! Chapter 50! Woot!**

**Anyways thank you to everyone who reviewed, I love them! And especially to Situational Extrovert, whose reviews always crack me up, and I also apologize, but Dumbledore had to die… it was necessary. **

**And to Sheep's Queen, who pointed out possible flaws in chapter 3, maybe when I'm finished I'll go back and fix all the little things I messed up way back there.**


	51. Dumbledore's funeral

Despite the three glasses of Fire Whiskey she had just downed, or perhaps because of them, the walk/limp back to the castle was rather pleasant. She hiccupped once or twice and broke out into random fits of giggles for no apparent reason but that was all that happened. The sad part was that it wasn't the Fire Whiskey that was causing her to giggle randomly; she was just reacting to the whole situation rather strangely. Amanda briefly wondered how long the giggles would last before the tears came, but then broke out in another laughing fit and pushed the thought aside.

She didn't go back to the hospital wing, now that the shock had worn off she wouldn't be able to handle all their faces, and instead headed straight for the Headmasters office… now supposedly her mothers' office.

Professors Sprout, Slughorn, and McGonagall were already there, along with Hagrid and Harry. They all nodded grimly at her before turning back to Minerva.

"I want to talk about what happens to Hogwarts before the Minister gets here," she said quickly. "Personally, I'm not convinced the school should reopen next year. The death of the headmaster at the hands of one of our colleagues is a terrible strain upon Hogwarts history."

Amanda was furious, _how could she talk like that? If Hogwarts died with Dumbledore then what was the point? His death was __designed__ to crush them, to stamp out all hope, but it wouldn't, not as long as they kept moving._

But she didn't say anything; who knew what would come out if she opened her mouth? It seemed a miracle that she was at least not giggling. But perhaps it was because her throat was tight beyond all measure and there seemed to be a gaping whole right where she thought her chest was supposed to be.

"I am sure Dumbledore would have wanted the school to reopen," said Professor Sprout. "I feel that if a single pupil wants to come, then the school ought to stay open for that pupil."

"But will we have a single pupil after this?" said Slughorn.

Amanda scowled, unnoticed by everyone except some of the portraits. Of course they would have more students! Not everyone was a coward like Slughorn.

"Parents will want to keep their children at home and I can't say I blame them. Personally, I don't think we're in any more danger at Hogwarts then anywhere else, but you can't expect anyone else to think like that. They'll want to keep their families together, it's only natural."

"I agree," said Professor McGonagall. "And in any case, it's not true to say that Dumbledore never envisioned a situation where the school would close. When the Chamber of Secrets reopened he considered closure of the school – and I must say the death of Dumbledore is more disturbing to me then the idea of Slytherin's monster living undetected in the bowels of the castle…"

"We must consult the governors," said Sprout. "We must follow the established procedures. A decision should not be made in haste."

"Hagrid, you haven't said anything," said Professor McGonagall. "What are your views, ought Hogwarts to remain open?"

Hagrid, who had been weeping silently into his large handkerchief throughout the whole conversation, now raised puffy red eyes and croaked, "I dunno, Professor… that's fer the Heads of House an' the headmistress ter decide…"

"Professor Dumbledore always valued your views," said Professor McGonagall kindly, "and so do I."

"Well, I'm stayin'," said Hagrid. "It's me home, its bin me home since I was thirteen. An' if there's kids who want me ter teach 'em, I'll do it. But… I dunno… Hogwarts without Dumbledore…" He gulped and disappeared behind his handkerchief once more.

"I don't think we have a choice," Amanda said quietly, finally forcing the tight feeling in her throat back.

Her voice, so quiet and unexpected, made all heads turn towards her.

"What do you mean, Amy?" asked Minerva, sounding rather strained again.

Of course she would seem strained talking to the younger woman; Amanda was like a walking bomb. She hadn't grieved yet, she hadn't howled in anger over the betrayal of Severus, but she would. It was inevitable, and when it happened Minerva didn't envy the person Amanda chose to pour her wrath into.

"Voldemort –" there was a collective hiss from those gathered – "is surely going to make his move quickly now, including the take over of the Ministry. I fear that he will reopen the school, if only to keep track of all the students and to hold their families in line."

There was grim silence at her words, it was a possibility none of them had thought of, and it was far from reassuring.

"But surely you don't think anyone would send their students back, if that was the case?" said Slughorn, mopping his brow with a large handkerchief.

"Amanda's right," said Minerva, "I don't think we, or the students, will have a choice." She glanced out one of the windows as she spoke, checking to see if the Minister had arrived yet. "Very well, for the time being though, we must act as if that is not the case, and consult the governors, who will make the final decision."

Amanda bowed her head in silent acceptance.

"Now, as to getting the students home… there is an argument for doing it sooner, rather then later. We could arrange for the Hogwarts Express to come tomorrow if necessary –"

"What about Dumbledore's funeral?" said Harry, speaking at last.

"Well…" said Professor McGonagall, losing a little of her briskness as her voice shook. "I – I know that it was Dumbledore's wish to be laid to rest here, at Hogwarts –"

"Then that's what'll happen, isn't it?" said Harry fiercely.

"If the Ministry thinks it appropriate," said McGonagall. "No other headmaster or headmistress has ever been –"

"No other headmaster or headmistress ever gave more to this school" growled Hagrid.

"I don't think they'll mind," Amanda said dryly, pointing a long finger at the portraits on the wall, who were in fact nodding enthusiastically at the idea.

Looking up at the nodding portraits, Amanda was struck by a sudden thought. Had Dumbledore's portrait…? Yes. When she shifted slightly to the right she could see it; the new portrait of Dumbledore hung just above the desk, his figure slumping against his golden frame with his half-moon spectacles perched upon his crooked nose, looking quite untroubled in sleep.

"And in that case," said Harry, "you shouldn't send the students home until the funeral's over. They'll want to say –"

"Good-bye." Amanda finished for him, when it became apparent that he could not. She felt her throat tighten again as the word slipped past, choking her.

"Our students should pay tribute, it is fitting. We can arrange transport home afterward."

"Seconded," barked Professor Sprout.

"I suppose… yes…" said Slughorn in a rather agitated voice, while Hagrid let out a rather strangled sob of assent.

Amanda nodded her head, even less able to speak than the obviously distraught Hagrid.

"He's coming," said Professor McGonagall suddenly, her eagle eyes fixed on the small movements from the grounds. "The Minister… and by the looks of it, he's brought a delegation…"

"Can I leave, Professor?" said Harry at once.

"You may," said Minerva. "And quickly."

Harry did not need telling twice, he sped down the spiral staircase and away down the hall. It was best that he leave, the boy was in no state to be interviewed by Rufus Scrimgeour. Speaking of which, neither was she.

"Now, Professor McGonagall," her mother said. The very fact that she had used her title shocked Amanda into paying attention. "I believe, that with the condition of your leg being what it is," – here Amanda took the time to realize that her leg was, indeed, about to collapse under her – "that it would be best if you rested in the study over there. And just in case someone forgets that you are in there you may wish to lock the door so that they don't disturb you on accident."

Amanda blinked once, then twice, slowly absorbing the fact that she wouldn't have to face the Ministry tonight, and that her mother was the one offering her this chance out. The other Professor's nodded their approval. She nodded slowly, hoping to convey with her eyes how grateful she was for the chance.

"As you wish, Professor."

Her mother had been right to send her away. Immediately upon arriving the Minister had demanded to know what had happened, and he promptly demanded to speak with her once he learned that she had been present when it had happened.

And while Minerva had willingly told him where Amanda was, the Hogwarts Head office was more than able to seal itself against unwanted intruders. Minerva, being headmistress now, could have easily asked the doors to open and they would have smoothly slide back to reveal the injured woman within. Minerva, however, seemed to have randomly forgotten this tid-bit of information, instead walking out to leave the Minister to attempt to break down the doors.

The sleeping woman hidden inside never stirred.

The days following were, like the walk back to the castle, surprisingly easy for Amanda. Perhaps it was just that she was keeping busy and not allowing herself to think on past events, but she somehow managed to flit around as she normally did, doing odd jobs and comforting anyone who reached out for it. There was only one point where she really lost it, and that was when Bill pointed out that she had a mark on her neck.

Looking in the mirror Amanda found a large black and brown mark, right at the base of her neck. Fury had risen in Amanda's chest until she was positively shaking with the effort to control herself. Severus had marked her. He'd done it hours before killing Dumbledore. He had practically had her begging for him, hours before betraying them all! How could he? How _dare_ he? How… how had she been so _stupid_?

Amanda had promptly thrown the mirror across the room, watching with satisfaction as glass flew everywhere. She had then proceeded to throw anything else remotely reflective until she'd collapsed against the wall, her voice hoarse from screaming.

But she was fine… really… Just because she woke up screaming every time she tried to sleep, and her magic didn't seem to work at all… and it was perfectly normal to get enraged and throw things when left alone long enough in this type of situation. It didn't mean there was anything wrong with her. Right? Of course not…

The day of Dumbledore's funeral dawned bright and sunny, exactly as he would have wanted it. He probably wouldn't have wanted them to make a big deal of it, but Hogsmeade would be closed for the day and every room in the tiny village had been booked by those who arrived early for the funeral. The Minister himself and a small group of his guards where staying somewhere in the castle, which was a good enough reason for Amanda to ensure that she was outside the castle as often as possible.

Perhaps this was why, not an hour before the funeral was due to start, Amanda could be found standing by the lake, fingering the necklace she'd worn so long. It still shone merrily in the sunlight, silently mocking her attempts to break it. She'd bashed it against walls, slammed it in doors, even threw it in the fireplace numerous times, but there wasn't a scratch on it.

There was nothing left to do but simply try to get rid of it. She wondered briefly if Severus had put a charm on it so that it would return to her if she lost it, before drawing her arm back and hurling it as far into the forest as possible.

The large sapphire glittered brightly before it vanished under the dark foliage, landing somewhere with a dull thunk. For one frantic moment Amanda wanted nothing more than to run into the forest and find it, but the moment passed, leaving her feeling once again hurt and betrayed. And bereft of one of her last sources of comfort. The sapphire necklace had been a source of comfort for well over a decade, but she couldn't keep it now, not when it reminded her so much of Him.

"Traitorous bastard…" she muttered.

It was childish to call him names, and especially pointless considering her couldn't hear her anyways. But it seemed habits from early childhood were hard to break, and it felt oddly satisfying. Although if someone else were to call him a name in front of her she was liable to either break down crying or punch someone.

Unknown arms suddenly wrapped around her and pulled her into their chest. Amanda's fingers went automatically to her wand before she realized that it would do no good and she just stood limply in their grip. Their hold was gentle and warm, and whoever it was smelt slightly of brimstone… like dragons… Charlie!

"It's going to be alright, Amy," he whispered, turning her around so her face was buried in his chest.

"I keep telling people that," she said lightly, smirking even through the storm of emotions whirling inside her, telling her he was wrong. "They didn't believe me anymore than I believe you."

"And here I thought you trusted me!" he said mockingly.

"How can it be alright Charlie?" she asked, and suddenly there was no mocking laughter to hide the pain in either of them.

"You're here," he said softly. "I'm here, your mother, my parents, the order. We're all still here."

"For how much longer?" she asked bitterly.

"As long as it takes," he said firmly.

"You can't guarantee that."

"No," he said softly. "But, as corny as it sounds, I still hold on to hope."

"I'm running out of things to hold on to," she whispered, sounding lost.

"Then I'll hold on to you," he said, pulling her even closer and enveloping her in his warm arms yet again.

Amanda just relaxed into his hold, more than willing to lose herself in the comfort he provided. But a sudden sound behind her ruined the moment, making her jump and turn around quickly in Charlie's arms.

"What?" he asked, tightening his grip when Amanda continued to scan the forest around them.

"I'm not sure, I thought I heard something."

When, after a few more moments of scanning the trees, they still saw nothing, Charlie started to pull her away, back to the castle so Amanda could lead the Ravenclaws to the funeral.

She passed her mother on the way in, already leading the somber Gryffindors out onto the grounds. They were followed by closely Professor Sprout, for once not covered in dirt, and then Professor Slughorn. Many of the Slytherins looked sad, but many of them had an almost smug expression hidden in their eyes. Amanda motioned her Ravenclaws forward, not really leading them anywhere, just trailing after the others.

Professor McGonagall led them silently down to the lake, where a large number of people were already waiting. She spotted Fleur and the Weasley's, already seated near the front. Some ways away sat Madame Maxime, with Amanda's god child and her family. Kingsley sat not far away, along with Mad-eye, Remus and Tonks.

But Amanda didn't join any of them; instead she sat near the back, next to a silver bearded man with bright blue eyes. They were on the very edge, where an overhanging tree nearly hid them from sight. She grimly realized that he had probably done this on purpose.

"You came," she said softly, surprised.

"Well," the gruff voice of Aberforth the barman spat out, soft so only she could hear. "I knew you'd be hounding me if I didn't show up."

He cast a sideways glance at her, his eyes softening considerably.

"How've you been doing?"

She shrugged. "As well as can be expected."

"Your magic?"

She shook her head, grimacing slightly when she recalled her failed attempts to clean up the messes she'd left behind after her rage filled tantrums. Aberforth sighed and shook his head before looking back up to the front, the ceremony had begun.

From their places just under the surface of the lake the merpeople began to sing. It was haunting, almost as beautiful as the lament Fawkes had sung them just before he'd disappeared, no longer able to exist in a world without his master. It really was too bad she couldn't have followed him, all she ha left now of the magnificent bird were a few feathers and the small vial of his tears she'd collected.

Hagrid began to walk up the aisle, carrying a bundle wrapped in velvet. Amanda looked away, knowing Dumbledore's body lay within. Everyone had turned to watch Hagrid now, no longer listening to the haunting music from the lake. At the front she could see the Minister, Scrimgeour, and his entourage. She saw Umbridge, Fudge, Rita Skeeter, and many others who she recognized but didn't care to place. She wondered how many of them truly cared that Dumbledore was gone.

All at once it became too much and Amanda jumped up, silently moving around Aberforth and into the trees. The look Aberforth spared her was enough to let her know that he had known she would leave, and had picked the spot so that she could slip away unnoticed. He really was more like his brother than either of them would ever admit; they always seemed to know what others were feeling and needed.

It seemed the whole forest had come to watch; she passed the centaurs, who had bowed their heads in respect to Dumbledore; she passed the thestrals and unicorns, looking both eerie and majestic standing side by side; not far away sat a number of Bowtruckles, their stick like limbs almost hiding them from her view; there were even several Hippogriffs standing some ways away, tossing their heads in distress. Amanda didn't know if all the creatures assembled were really there for Dumbledore, or if they had just been called forward by curiosity from the large crowd. But either way it was touching.

Carlisle detached himself from his herd and followed Amanda into the forest, followed shortly by Ash. Together the three old friends made their way farther and farther away from where Dumbledore was being laid to rest. Amanda had no intention of missing it entirely; however, she would never disrespect the great man so much. But she did hope he wouldn't mind her having to get away from the crowd.

It didn't take long for the small group to reach the cliff overlooking the lake, the same place Amanda had escaped to many times in her childhood. From their vantage point they could clearly see Dumbledore's body, with none of the sobbing downcast faces in the way. They were just in time to see white flames burst into life over his body before changing to flow into white marble. A shower of arrows flew into the sky, the last respects from the centaurs.

Ash handed something to Amanda and she took it, staring down at the object blankly for a moment before realizing what it was. It was the same stupid rock-colored violin that Amanda had first made and given to Gryis her second day of school. She lifted it to her chin and tuned it carefully before turning back to look over the lake and to Dumbledore's now marble encased body.

The music that flowed from the violin seemed to encompass all the feelings that had been raging inside her since that fateful night. She played rage, fast, deep notes that had her glaring at the sky; she played longing, sweet, bitter notes that hung in the air long after she had moved on; there was hope, notes played softly, almost lost amongst the rest of the music; but nothing about the entire piece could be called happy, for there was no happiness in her music now, only a release.

She didn't notice that the crowd could hear her, and she would never know that a small crowd remained behind to listen to her tune. The small group that remained were those that had been closest to Dumbledore, Minerva, Hagrid, the staff, Harry, and several others. It was almost as if they were having their own private funeral, just Dumbledore and his closest friends, the way it should have been.

Long after Amanda had lost feeling in her fingers and the tears stopped flowing she finally lowered her instrument and handed it back to Ash, who disappeared back into the forest shortly after. Amanda let Carlisle guide her to a soft patch of grass and settled herself against the warm unicorns flank, welcoming the peaceful sleep she felt herself falling into.

Severus sighed but couldn't find it in himself to turn away. He'd felt the need to return, just once more. She'd nearly hit him with the necklace when she'd thrown it, it had flown merely inches from his face and hit the trunk of the tree just behind him. When Charlie had taken her in his arms it had taken all his will not to run forward and forcibly remove the younger man as the beast inside him was roaring for him to do.

She looked so peaceful, sleeping beside the unicorn, a drastic change from the furious look she'd worn when throwing away his necklace and the lost look she'd been wearing since.

He wanted so badly to reach out and touch her, just one last time. But there was nothing he could do with the unicorn so protectively gazing around. Instead Severus carefully backtracked until he was free from the forest and walked away, slipping the necklace into his pocket thoughtfully. Perhaps one day he could return it to her, provided of course they both survived the coming years. He doubted she would ever forgive him, but he could hope. It was all he could do now.

**I am so sorry it took this long. I have a really good excuse too! My dad, who decided he would "fix" my computer for me, formatted the thing! I lost this whole story! Which really sucks because I had a perfect ending written, really touching… Anyways, I'm back, thank you all for reviewing. Have I mentioned you guys are awesome? And I'm sorry this chapter was so boring, but it wasn't exactly something I could leave out, it had some important tid-bits in there!**


	52. Fly like an eagle! Or crash

_What a way to wake up,_ Amanda thought, smiling without opening her eyes.

Warm fingers trailed up and down her spine slowly, ghosting along her skin and spreading goose bumps everywhere. Severus's eyes were warm with amusement as he looked down at her own sleep dazed orbs.

"Good morning," she said sleepily.

He immediately buried his face in the crook of her neck, nuzzling her and kissing the mark he'd left the night before gently. Amanda giggled as his hair tickled her neck. Severus smirked and pulled her closer, his hot skin warming her own quickly. The feel of it sent tingles running through her, making her shudder against him in delighted pleasure. And then his lips were caressing hers, somehow soft and yet demanding at the same time.

Amanda responded whole-heartedly. Her body arched up to meet his and her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers already twisting in his dark hair. One of his hands trailed down to her waist and lifted her by the hip, locking them together. She wanted nothing more than to lose herself in his fiery kisses, but all too soon he pulled away.

"Severus –"

The look on his face was enough to make her words catch in her throat painfully. She'd never seen him look like that before; she'd never imagined anyone _could_ look so pained. He was like a man tortured; his face was taut and carefully blank, too blank. It looked as if he were hiding his deepest pain, but his eyes… his eyes were wild and desperate, as if he knew he would never be happy again.

"Amy?" he whispered, as if asking her to make everything better. He looked at her as if she was some sort of angel who could fix it all and make all of their troubles disappear.

And then he faded, only to reappear a moment later, standing fully-clothed in front of her. His face was twisted into a mask of fury, pain and disgust. A sharp pain in her chest made Amanda look down. Severus's wand was pressed painfully against her skin, right above her frantically beating heart. She'd never felt such terror before.

Her eyes followed his arm up to his face, which was now twisted into a hatred fueled snarl.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Amanda screamed and shot out of bed. It only took her a moment to realize that it was only a dream and she clenched her fists, still shaking from the fright the nightmare had given her.

It had been over a month since the night of Severus's betrayal and she was still having nightmares. They were always the same, she would start off in a memory of a peaceful morning with Severus, blissfully unaware of recent events, but then he would pull away and give her _that_ _look_. The look that frightened her in her dreams but angered her when she woke up, he had no right to look at her like that, _he_ had betrayed _them_. And then he would kill her, the same look he had worn when killing Dumbledore on his face.

A sudden pain in her stomach had Amanda jumping for the bathroom, barely managing to not fall over the blankets that had twisted around her. She made it just in time to lose the contents of her stomach with a violent retching noise. A few gasps of air and she was retching again, clutching the edge of the sink desperately as a wave of dizziness washed over her. As if it wasn't enough that she couldn't sleep peacefully, she had been hurling the contents of her stomach to the porcelain god for almost a week now.

"Miss Amanda?"

A tentative knock and a hesitant voice alerted Amanda to the fact that Matilda was just outside. Ordinarily the house elf would have rushed in immediately upon hearing Amanda scream in fright but recently she had asked the elf to stay away from her room; it wasn't that she didn't trust the faithful elf, she just didn't want anyone to see her in such a state.

"The members of the order have arrived for you," the dutiful elf called, pretending she hadn't just heard her mistress being violently ill in the next room.

"Thank you Matilda," Amanda called, "I will just be a few moments more."

The house elf nodded worriedly to herself but left her young mistress alone to continue being sick in the loo.

Not five minutes later Amanda walked down the stairs, clean and dressed properly so she could join the large group sitting impatiently in her small living room. There didn't appear to be anybody missing, but then again, they had probably all met at the Burrow before moving here to collect her.

It was quite a group to squeeze into her cramped space; there was Ron, looking lankier than ever; Hermione, whose bushy hair looked like a lions mane; Fred and George, grinning mischievously as always; Bill and Fleur, happily arm in arm; Mr. Weasley; Mad-Eye Moody; Tonks, whose bright hair stood out vividly amongst the dark group; Lupin; Kingsley; Mundungus Fletcher; Charlie; and Hagrid, who seemed to be cramped into a tiny corner and overshadowed them all.

Moody's magical eye followed her down the stairs, while his other eye was fixed on the small watch he'd pulled from his pocket.

"Don't start with me, Moody," she said, when he opened his mouth, "you're all early."

He frowned but couldn't deny she was right. "Fine," he growled, "you have the broomsticks?"

"I was supposed to get those?" she asked innocently. Moody glared. "Oh, don't look at me like that, I _know_ you saw them in the closet."

Once again Moody grumbled but couldn't really say anything; he had, in fact, peaked through all her rooms with his magical eye and had found the broomsticks in the closet just as they were supposed to be.

"So," she said, clapping and smiling at them all wanly. "Let's get this party on the road, shall we? I'd like to get the thestrals out of my yard as soon as possible."

A few people chuckled, but she was rather serious about that last bit. It had been decided that her house was the safest place to hide the large creatures, and it had been awful. They kept trying to eat the neighbors' dog, and while Amanda didn't really like the yappy little thing, it would raise a lot of questions if the neighbors looked over to see their dog hanging in the air with a large chunk missing out of him.

Moody, in true paranoid fashion – and who could blame him after what had happened during the Triwizard tournament – insisted on casting the Disillusionment Charm on everyone instead of letting them do it themselves. There was some teasing but it wasn't worth it to get Moody riled up so they just stood still while he worked.

And then they were off, each of them on an old broomstick, or, as was the case of Bill and Tonks, upon the two black winged thesterals. Hagrid rode the giant motorbike Sirius had built and its roaring filled the night.

They had chosen Amanda's place to start because it actually wasn't all that far from where Harry was living. And at the swift pace Moody was pushing them at they arrived in just under half an hour.

They landed on the neatly manicured back lawn and Amanda smiled with some satisfaction when the motorbike completely ruined a patch of tulips. Figures popped back into sight, slightly dishelved from the wind, as their Disillusionment Charms lifted.

Amanda jumped off her broom and shifted into a large wolf, completely white save for one long black scar stretching across her stomach and chest. Out of all of them she was the only Animagus, so naturally she would be the one to scout the area.

She was about to race off to do her job quickly but before she could Moody tackled her with what seemed to be a large blanket covered in a strange powder. It made her sneeze. Amanda growled and glared at Moody resentfully but slinked off anyways when he shooed her, disappearing into a neighbors hedge.

She kept low to the ground and crept through various yards, trying to sniff out the Death Eaters they hoped wouldn't be lurking around. She didn't stay out long, just long enough to circle the block on either side before rushing back to Harry's house. If she hadn't been in a rush she would have realized the error in judgment she had made by rushing into a house full of fifteen paranoid wizards.

As it was, Amanda found herself skidding to a stop with fifteen wands pointing at various parts of her body. She rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright," she said quickly, throwing her hands up, "who wants to ask a question so I can prove who I am?"

"What did Sirius leave for you in his will?" Remus asked, looking slightly amused by her gesture.

"A knife."

"And the note?"

"'Kill the bastard,'" she said, wondering if Sirius had perhaps meant Snape as well.

"Sounds good to me," Remus said, pocketing his wand. Moody, however, kept it pointing at her, now glaring.

"That's not Amy," he growled.

"You have got to be kidding me," Amanda snapped.

"Look at her, she doesn't have that necklace. Amy _always_ has her necklace."

Amanda winced and put a hand to her throat, as if reaching for comfort from the object she'd thrown away.

"She doesn't have it anymore," Charlie said angrily, shoving Moody's arm down. "She got rid of it during Dumbledore's funeral so put your bloody wand down."

"Anymore pointless questions?" Amanda asked coldly.

"I've got one," Harry said. "Why're you all covered in soot?"

"I don't know. You want to explain that one, Moody?"

"You were practically glowing out there, whit doesn't really blend in."

"Right, er, I've got one more question." Harry said. "Maybe the Death Eaters won't know which secure house I'm going to at first, but won't it be sort of obvious once sixteen of us fly off towards Tonks's parents'?"

"Ah," said Moody, "I forgot to mention the key point. Sixteen of us won't be flying to Tonks's parents'. There will be eight Harry Potters moving through the skies tonight, each of them with a companion, each pair heading for a different safe house."

Moody now pulled out the key ingredient to their plan, a bottle of what appeared to be mud. It was, in fact, Polyjuice potion, specially made by Amanda not two days prior. Obviously Harry knew what it was as well.

"No!" he said loudly. "No way!"

"I told them you'd take it like this," said Hermione, somewhat smugly.

"If you think I'm going to let seven people risk their lives –!"

"– because it's a first time for all of us," said Ron.

"This is different, pretending to be me –"

"Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever."

Amanda grimaced at the thought and made a face at Fleur behind her back. Fleur had refused to be transformed as Harry unless Amanda agreed to do it too, the original plan had been for Charlie to take it and Amanda to guard him.

"You can't do it if I don't cooperate; you need me to give you some hair."

Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Well that's a plan scuppered," said George. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."

"Yeah, fifteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic; we've got no chance," said Fred.

"Funny," said Harry, "really amusing."

"If it has to come to force, then it will," growled Moody. "Everyone here's overage, Potter, and they're all prepared to take the risk."

Mundungus shrugged and grimaced, earning himself a glare from Moody's magical eye.

"Let's have no more arguments. Time's wearing on. I want a few of your hairs, boy, now."

"But this is mad, there's no need –"

"No need!" snarled Moody. "With You-Know-Who out there and half the Ministry on his side? Potter, if we're lucky he'll have swallowed the fake bait and be planning to ambush you on the thirteenth, but he'd be mad not to have a Death Eater or two keeping an eye out, it's what I'd do. They might not be able to get a hold of you or this house while your mothers charm holds, but it's about to break and they know the rough position of the place. Our only chance is to use decoys. Even You-Know-Who can't split himself into eight."

Harry continued to glare murderously and defiantly at them all. But it didn't really matter anymore. While Moody had been making his speech Amanda had moved around to stand behind him and was now clutching a fistful of his hair.

"Hey!" he yelled, trying to jerk away.

"Rip it out now, Potter, or I will do it for you," she said, the threat obvious in her frosted voice.

With all of their eyes on him and Amanda's hand still clutching his hair, Harry reached up and pulled a hank of hair out.

"Good," said Moody, limping forward and holding out the flask of potion.

A sudden image of Harry knocking the potion to the ground popped into Amanda's head and she froze, not letting him step towards it.

"And Harry," Amanda said, her hand now gripping his shoulder. "We brought extra, just incase."

He scowled, informing her that he had indeed been planning to get rid of the potion, and reluctantly dropped the hair into the potion, which immediately began to froth and bubbled before turning into a clear gold.

"Ooh, you look much tastier than Crabbe and Goyle, Harry," said Hermione. She blushed madly and added, "Oh, you know what I mean – Goyle's potion looked like boogies."

"That's a pleasant image," Amanda said dryly, before moving to take her place with the others.

"Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please," said Moody.

His instruction was quite unnecessary, however, as Amanda, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Fleur had already lined up besides Harry's Aunt's gleaming sink. Amanda viciously hoped someone would hurl in it, before realizing that it would most likely be her, considering how often she had been hurling lately.

"We're one short," said Lupin.

"Here," said Hagrid, lifting Mundungus by the collar and dropping him beside Fleur, who promptly moved to stand between Fred and George. Amanda couldn't blame her, Mundungus was a cowardly man, and he often stank.

"I've todjer, I'd sooner be a protector," said Mundungus.

Amanda was glad he wasn't, she doubted he's be able to protect anybody.

"Shut it," growled Moody. "As I've already told you, you spineless worm, any Death Eaters we run into will be aiming to capture Potter, not kill him. Dumbledore –" Amanda flinched "– always said You-Know-Who would want to finish Potter in person. It'll be the protectors who have got the most to worry about, the Death Eaters'll want to kill them."

Mundungus didn't look particularly reassured but Moody was already handing out cups of the potion.

"Altogether, then…"

As one they drank, and as one they all grimaced as the disgusting potion hit their throats. Their skin bubbled and shifted like hot wax, and Amanda felt the curious sensation of her hair shooting back into her skull. Ron, Fred, and George were shrinking; Hermione and Mundungus shooting upwards to match Harry's height.

A sudden burning in Amanda's stomach had her doubling over in pain, praying she hadn't somehow screwed up the potion. She had followed the exact instructions for once, blocking out all the advice Severus had drilled into her head when they were students.

But no one else looked to be in pain, ad after a moment it passed. It appeared only the Weasleys, Charlie, Bill and Arthur, had noticed her episode, and she shrugged, not really knowing what had happened. Moody was already loosen=ing the ties to the sacks he had brought with him, and straightened up to see seven Potter's watching him with interest.

"Wow – we're identical!" said Fred and George together.

"I dunno, though, I think I'm still better-looking," said Fred.

"Bah," said Fleur, checking herself in the microwave door, "Bill, don't look at me – I'm 'ideous."

Amanda looked at Fleur and Fred, who was examining himself in a tea kettle, with bewilderment. Why were they struggling to see themselves in semi-reflective kitchen implements when all they had to do to see what they looked like was to look at Harry or one another?

"Those whose clothes are a bit roomy, I've got smaller here," said Moody, indicating the first sack, "and vice versa. And don't forget the glasses, there's six pairs in the side pocket. And when you're dressed, there's luggage in the other sack."

"I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo," said Ron, looking at his/Harry's bare chest.

"Harry, your eyesight really is awful," said Hermione, as she put on glasses.

Amanda felt a bit sorry for Harry, as they had all just stripped and examined his body shamelessly, but then she was reminded that she was no a man rather forcefully and al thoughts of pity were forced from her mind.

Ron had been jerking a robe out of the sack and it had finally come lose, with the added effect that Ron's elbow had shot back into Amanda's now male genitalia.

"Oooh," Amanda groaned, instantly bending over at the never before felt area of pain.

"Oh blimey," said Ron, stepping back hurriedly to watch her double over. "Sorry, Fred."

"Wrong," she groaned. "Significantly older and more feminine… usually."

"Oh god, Professor," he said, instantly looking apologetic, the slightly smug smile vanishing.

"Stop molesting Harry, Amy," Charlie teased. "He's a bit young for you, don't you think?"

"I'm going to _kill_ you Charlie," she hissed, "but first I'm going to kick you… several times… in the crotch of course."

"Harsh, Amy, that hurts right here," he joked, placing a hand over his heart.

"Right," said Moody, staring at the eight Harrys that now faced him. "The pairs are as follows: Mundungus will be traveling with me, by broom –"

"Why'm I with you?" grunted the Harry nearest to the door.

"Because you're the one that needs watching," growled Moody. "Arthur and Fred –"

"I'm George," said the twin at whom Moody was pointing. "Can't you even tell us apart when we're Harry?"

"Sorry, George –"

"I'm only yanking your wand, I'm Fred really –"

"Enough messing around!" snarled Moody. "The other one – George or whoever you are – you're with Remus. Miss Delacour –"

"I'm taking Fleur on a thestral," said Bill. "She's not that fond of brooms."

Amanda was secretly glad; the Death Eaters would most likely assume Harry was on a broom so Fleur should be safe, especially if she was with Bill.

"Miss Granger with Kingsley, again by thestral – "

"And you and me Ron!" said Tonks brightly, knocking over a mug tree as she waved.

Ron looked decidedly less pleased with his protector than Hermione had.

"And Amy with Charlie," Moody growled, before anyone else could interrupt.

"An' you're with me, Harry? That all righ'?" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious. "We'll be on the bike, brooms and thestrals can't take me weight, see. Not a loto' room on the seat with me on it, though, so you'll be in the sidecar."

"That's great," said Harry, though Amanda suspected he wasn't being entirely truthful.

"We think the Death Eaters will expect you to be on broom," said Moody, who seemed to also have picked up on Harry's half truth. "Snape's had plenty of time to tell them everything about you he's never mentioned before, so if we do run into any Death Eaters, we're betting they'll choose one of the Potters who look at home on a broomstick.

"All right then," he continued, tying the three sacks tightly, "I make it three minutes until we're supposed to leave. No point in locking the back door, it won't keep any Death Eaters out when they come looking… Come on…"

They trudged into the back garden quickly and separated into their groups and started to get ready. Amanda straddled her broom and then glared at it, she really wasn't much of a flyer. Charlie, seeing her expression, chuckled.

"It's not going to eat you," he said.

Amanda glared but that only renewed his laughter.

"That glare really doesn't work on Harry's face," he added.

"You had better not die," she said suddenly, "I still have to kill you for earlier."

"Well," he said lightly, "I'd give you a kiss and tell you everything was going to be alright, but that'd be kinda weird while you look like that."

"I don't see why," she said, feigning thoughtfulness. "I thought you liked this kind of thing? Or is Harry not man enough for you? I'm gonna tell Harry you think he's a pansy."

"You wouldn't," he said.

"Oi! Fake Harrys! Charlie thinks you're all pan –!"

"If I come back without mine would that be a problem?" Charlie growled, his hand pressed firmly around her mouth.

Moody glared and rolled his eyes but for once didn't say anything about their behavior.

"All right then," said Moody, for once ignoring them. "Everyone ready, please; I want us all to leave at exactly the same time or the whole point of the diversion's lost."

Everybody mounted their brooms. Amanda tried to make it look like she wasn't completely unused to brooms but the smirk on Charlies' face informed her that she was failing horribly. Beside them, Hagrid kicked the motorbike into life, it roared like a dragon.

"Good luck, everyone," shouted Moody. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One… Two… THREE."

The motorbike roared even louder than before, if that were possible, and not even the sudden rush of wind from launching into the air drowned it out. There was one, fleeting, moment of peace, where they all shot into the sky, higher and higher.

And then one, fleeting, moment where they were surrounded. Cloaks flapping and hoods covering their faces the Death Eaters hung for a moment like ghosts in the night, floating eerily silent and having appeared out of no where.

And then all hell broke lose. People screamed and green light flashed from every direction. Amanda felt Charlie pushing her gently whilst firing off his own spells, trying to herd them away from the group. She obliged, shooting upwards as fast as she could and pulling out her wand, praying that her magic would work properly.

Two other pairs had broken away and were speeding into the night and Harry was shouting while Hagrid sped them away from the chaos. Several Death Eaters were right on top of Tonks and Ron, too close for the pair to escape. So far her and Charlie seemed to be relatively unnoticed, but not for long.

"Expelliarmus!"

That did it. The move was practically Harry's signature, if that didn't make the Death Eaters think she was the real Harry nothing would. She was right. No less than five Death Eaters began to follow them, and Amanda was suddenly thankful for Charlies Quidditch abilities, because they were suddenly showered with curses.

The pair sped away as fast as they could, climbing higher and higher as they went. Charlie shot curses of his own back behind them and Amanda joined him, but with limited success. It seemed sheer luck that her last move had worked, her magic had stopped working again. She cursed and switched her focus to just dodging the spells sent their way.

Aside from the possibility of imminent death, it wasn't all that bad. The Death Eaters were falling behind and they weren't all tat far away from the safe house now, Amanda was beginning to think that they might actually make it without injury.

"This is easier than I thought it'd be," Charlie shouted, sliding up next to her.

But, of course, you should never say things like that, because that's when everything goes wrong.

A black robed figure appeared, materializing from nothingness as if he were the Grim Reaper himself. Purple sparks flew from his wand, impossibly fast, and collided with them both. Blood spattered everywhere and fell like red rain to the ground below. The wounds were shallow, luckily so, but they bled profusely, staining their clothes and coating the handles of their broomsticks.

Amanda sent her own fireball behind her, hoping to prevent an attack from both fronts, but the flame was weak, and only managed to ignite the robes of the Death Eaters, causing only a momentary distraction.

The pair, now bloodied and surrounded, hadn't stopped; they were far too close to the end to even think about it. They barreled past the Death Eater that had appeared in front of them at full sped, and for a moment it looked as if they had lucked out, his spell had shot past them, but then the air exploded.

Charlie flew from his broomstick and Amanda dove. Ungracefully but fast, and just well enough to be able to catch Charlie's arm as it whooshed passed. The added dead weight threw her off balance and sent them careening into a wild nose dive, crashing down into the trees. Branches and limbs tore at them or snapped under their combined weight until at last they crashed to the ground.

Amanda didn't wait for the daze from their landing to wear of, instead she crawled to were Charlie had landed, practically throwing herself across his chest in her hast. He was breathing, still unconscious and bleeding, but breathing. They needed help though, that much was obvious. She knew they couldn't be far from the barrier; she'd been able to see the safe house before they'd crashed. If they hadn't already entered it then it must only be a few yards out.

Amanda grabbed Charlies limp form, hauled him onto her back, and took off running. Or at least, she tried to, Harrys' body really wasn't made to carry a larger body through trees and creeks, and she spent most of the time slipping or sliding and picking herself out of the mud. But she couldn't stop to see if the Death Eaters were following them, so she just kept moving.

Amanda felt herself start to change, her hair was growing back out with a prickling sensation; her feet were sliding in the shoes so she kicked them off; her eyesight started to blur but she didn't have a hand to take the glasses off.

"Still running I see," said a slick voice from just behind her.

Amanda whipped around, throwing the glasses away and pulling out her wand. She glared into the smug face of none other then Severus Snape. He looked just as she remembered him, not that her dreams would ever let her forget. But his eyes lacked even the glimmer of warmth they had held for her, now he just looked cold and smug.

All at once the burning returned to her abdomen and her face twisted from anger into pain. Her knees gave out and she hit the ground at the same time as her wand. It was so much worse this time. Burning, grinding, twisting, as her forehead pressed into the dirt she could feel it all under the skin of her stomach.

She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything except stare at his boots and pray that he would kill her over taking her back for information. She was effectively at his mercy.

She didn't see him raise his wand towards her, but she did see the silver crackle that spread to just in front of her face. Amanda gasped in relief; she had made it inside of the barrier, barely; Charlie was safe, she was safe, Severus couldn't get to either of them.

Another wave of relief hit her when she heard Charlies frantic voice, he was alright.

"Amy!" she heard him squelch through the mud towards them. "What did you do to her, you bastard?"

She couldn't see it but she could well imagine the irritated look on Severus's face as he flicked the barrier again, sending a crackling wave of silver shooting outwards again.

"_I_ have done nothing, Weasley," he said dryly, accusation coating every word thickly. "I don't have to, with her, she manages to injure herself quite well on her own."

"Shut up," Charlie growled, his hand was on her back comfortingly and he was kneeling beside her.

"Defending her? Tsk, tsk Weasley," Severus sneered, "I thought even you would be smart enough not to waste your time with something as worthless as that."

Amanda felt her heart clench painfully, worse even than the pain that had her face first in the mud at his feet.

"But then again," Severus continued, "I guess she wasn't _completely_ useless, she was… ever so willing in bed."

Amanda gasped and she heard Charlie growl, the hand on her back clenching into a fist. But Severus wasn't finished.

"And the sounds she makes, she can scream quite loud, when she's properly _motivated_."

"You sick son of a -"

"Charlie." she gasped, stopping him from launching himself at Severus. "Don't... he's goading you..."

"That's right," Severus sneered, "I'd almost forgotten about your little mind trick. I guess that explains why you're getting so worked up, Weasley, has she got you into thinking you love her? Or that she isn't quite as annoying as she seems? Or maybe you just wish it was you that she was screaming for."

"ENOUGH!" Charlie shouted, standing so only the barrier and a few inches separated their noses. "She hasn't tricked me into anything. I love her because she's the most intelligent and bravest woman I have _ever_ had the fortune to meet! And if she has a single fault, it is only that she's kind and trusting enough to put up with slime balls like you because she feels sorry for you."

_Charlie... _she thought, _Charlie... loves... me? Not possible._ The men above her seemed to have forgotten that she was there. But Charlie hadn't quite finished.

"It's people like you who are worthless because you can't even realize a great thing when you have it, and instead you have to put down anyone with an once of decency to make your own life seem worthwhile."

"Ah," Severus said coldly, "so she has got you thinking you're in love."

"I know I love her," Charlie said quietly. "I have loved her from the first smile I saw cross her face. And the _only_ reason I stood by and remained silent was because she deserved someone better, I wish I had known she had a poisonous snake like you dodging her every move." His last words were spoken with such disgust and hate that it was a wonder that venom wasn't leaking from between his teeth.

It was too much, too much pain, too much confusion. Amanda's exhausted mind shut down, pulling her all too willing body with it into oblivion.

**So this was a long one… and Charlie got a bit corny… and it's been a **_**really**_** long time since I last updated. Does anyone remember the good old days when I updated almost every other day? I miss those days… Anyways, thank you for the reviews and for sticking with me even though it's been more than a week (maybe two) since my last chapter. You guys are awesome!**

**Ok, so I told my dad I would ****eviscerate him if he touched my pc again, and he said that "there would be none of that in the house" what kind of reply is that?!**

**If I ever write another one of these it's going to be SO much shorter.**

**And yeah, she does get hurt a lot, and it's gonna happen maybe two… three more times. Aside from random scraps and bruises, but those really don't count. Wow I had a lot to say, and I'm rambling… BYE!!!! **


	53. Strange happanings

The Burrow was in an uproar. Mrs. Weasley and Hermione paced anxiously across the yard, scattering chickens and periodically swerving to avoid each other. Kingsley waited grimly by the door, ready to attack should anyone unwanted appear. Somewhere inside George was resting, recovering from having had his ear blasted off.

Without warning Charlie and Amanda spilled into out into the yard, further adding to the chaos. Twigs stuck from Amanda's hair and Charlie was cradling her close to his chest, looking for all the world as if he would murder anyone who tried to take her from him.

"It's Charlie and Amy!" someone shouted, it sounded like Kingsley.

"Charlie, are you alright?" Amanda asked quietly, ignoring the yelling around them. "What happened?"

He looked relieved to see her awake but frowned anyways.

"I'm fine. Are you –?"

Mrs. Weasley interrupted him. "Thank goodness you're both – Remus what in heavens name do you think you're doing?"

The sharpness of her tone, coupled with years of it being directed at them, caused the Amanda and Charlie to look up and forget about their questions for the time being. Or maybe it was the wand being held less then a foot from their faces by a very stern faced Remus Lupin.

"Look at them! They're injured, surely this can wait!"

"We've been betrayed, Molly! The Death Eaters knew we were coming tonight."

Behind him Mrs. Weasley was being restrained by Kingsley, who, despite his rather impressive build, still looked as though he was going to lose her at any moment. It truly was amazing how violent a woman could get when her child was being threatened. Behind the flailing woman, Bill was keeping Fluer behind his back while Harry and Hermione were peaking out from behind him, craning their necks to see past the struggling Kingsley.

"But –"

"It's alright Mrs. Weasley," Amanda said, trying to sound reassuring. "It's not nearly as bad as it looks. Go on, Remus."

"What shape does your Patronus take, Charlie?"

"A dragon," he said.

"Good, good. Now, Amy, what was the first piece of magic James taught you?"

A slight smile found its way into her voice, "Expelliarmus."

Remus nodded and Kingsley released Mrs. Weasley, allowing a small flood of people to surround them. Fluer was already back, along with Bill, Tonks, Ron, and Hermione. But she didn't see the twins anywhere, or Moody.

"Kingsley, Remus, could one of you take a look at Amy? Severus did something to her."

"Did not," she said distractedly, still looking for the twins. "He even said so."

"Yeah? Well I find his word a bit hard to take at the moment."

"Doesn't matter, he still didn't do it. Now where are –"

"You were lying at his feet," he was shouting now, angrily, and right into her ear, "unable to even stand! And you expect me to believe he did nothing to you? Have you lost your mind?"

Amanda narrowed her eyes and shoved him away from her, landing with a thud on the ground.

"No," she said coldly, picking herself off the ground to stand above him, "but if you'll recall, I had the same problem before we left Harry's house. How do you think he would have been able to cause that? Hhm? He wouldn't. And, in case you haven't noticed, I'm perfectly fine now, except for someone yelling in my ear that I've gone crazy! I'm not _stupid_ Charlie; but he didn't do it!"

Silence followed her words, and something horribly akin to defeat and disbelief had settled on Charlies face.

"You're still defending him, after everything that was said?"

Those words, spoken so quietly, were like a punch in the stomach. He hadn't said "after what Severus said," he meant what he'd said. What Charlie said… And she'd just yelled at him for being concerned. Guilt flooded her again.

"I…" How could she make him understand? She hadn't meant to take Severus's side, she just knew he hadn't done it. But the words wouldn't come. "I didn't mean…"

Amanda sighed and gave up on words, it was time to do what she did best and walk away. She left a defeated looking Charlie on the ground, Mrs. Weasley looked stunned, Kingsley and Remus kept their faces carefully blank, but she wasn't blind; Kingsley might not know what was going on but Remus had pity in his gaze. Fleur looked utterly confused, just like Hermione, Ron and Tonks; and Harry just looked angry. Then again, Harry tended to look angry a lot these days, not that he didn't have good reason to be.

Amanda ignored them all and ran upstairs to the attic, where she knew they'd leave her alone, if only because the ghoul would shriek and throw a tantrum if too many people invaded his space.

All in all the trip shouldn't have been considered a success; Moody was dead; Fletcher was off hiding somewhere; and George had lost an ear to Severus's hand. But they had gotten Harry to safety, and that was all that mattered at this point.

The shock of losing Moody hung over the house for days, leaving people more subdued then normal. Amanda spent most of her time alone in the attic, avoiding Charlie. But there were times when she had to leave the solitude of the room, mainly in the mornings when she had to be sick in the bathroom down the hall.

"Good heavens Amy, are you alright?"

Mrs. Weasley had caught her on her way back from one such visit.

"Just a tad queasy is all."

"Why don't you come sit with me for a few minutes?" she said, pulling Amanda gently along behind her.

Mrs. Weasley ushered her into her room and shut the door before settling on the bed and motioning for Amanda to do the same. The semi-grave look on the older woman's face made Amanda wonder if perhaps she ought to be afraid, but she sat down anyways.

"Dear," Mrs. Weasley started out softly, "I think we need to have a mother-daughter talk."

Of course, it wasn't the fact that Mrs. Weasley wasn't her mother that made this strange, Mrs. Weasley had been a mother to Amanda since the first time she'd visited them for Christmas. No, what made this strange was purely the awkwardness of all such talks. It didn't matter where you were, who you were talking to, or even what language you were talking in, all talks that started this way were awkward.

"Mrs. Weasley," Amanda started, panicking on the inside, "if you're going to explain the bird and the bee's to me, Mr. Weasley already beat you to it."

And what an awkward talk _that_ had been. Arthur had caught Bill snogging his girlfriend on the sofa and had immediately sat them all down to give them a rather embarrassing lecture. The horrified looks on Charlie and Bills faces, along with the completely mortified expression Amanda had worn while Mr. Weasley had tried to explain the female reproductive system was enough to make the already bright red man scream for his wife while the rest of them tried to make a break for it.

Mrs. Weasley smiled in fond nostalgia for a moment before her gaze turned serious again.

"Not exactly what I wanted to talk about. But dear, how long would you say you'd been having this sickness?"

"Only a few weeks." Mrs. Weasley nodded as if she'd expected that answer. "I'll admit it's a little strange but I'm a tad bit on edge lately. It's probably just stress."

"And it only happens in the mornings?"

"Yeah, it's weird like that. I'll feel perfectly fine in about an hour or so."

"So it's some sort of morning sickness?" Mrs. Weasley prompted.

"Yes but…" Amanda suddenly trailed off, finally realizing what Mrs. Weasley was getting at.

"No!" she said, standing up quickly. "There's no way. That's not even – there's not a chance in – it's not even remotely poss…ibil...ity…" Amanda trailed of as sudden realization hit her.

It _was_ possible. It made sense even. "Babies…" she murmured.

Babies… loud, smelly, giggly, soft, adorable babies. She'd always wanted to have a child but she'd assumed it would take her years to convince Severus. This, this was _not_ how she had expected this to happen. Were it not for Mrs. Weasleys voice bringing her out of her daze it was likely Amanda would have gone into a panic attack.

"Charlie," Mrs. Weasley said in surprise, "did you want something?"

Sure enough, Charlie was standing in the doorway, a shocked expression on his face. He just turned and stalked away. Amanda ran out to the hall just in time see his door slam close and hear the lock click loudly.

Amanda growled and kicked the door. "You have no right to be angry with me!" she shouted. "Open this door!"

"No!"

"So you're just going to lock me out when something doesn't go you're way? Yeah, that's _real mature_!"

"Go away, Amy!"

"I'm not leaving until you open this door!"

"Then have fun standing in the hallway!"

"Stop being so dramatic!"

"Stop siding with the enemy!"

"Jerk!"

"Cow!"

"Pig face!"

"Slut!"

"_Bloody wanker_!"

"_Ignorant woman_!"

"You're such baby!"

Silence.

Amanda groaned and stomped downstairs to the kitchen, she hadn't eaten a good meal in days. Just her luck, Mr. Weasley and Bill were sitting at the table. Both of them raised their eye-brows at her.

"Language," Bill said, smiling behind his cup. "There are children in the house."

Amanda growled and stormed back upstairs, she'd eat later.

Several hours later Amanda returned to Charlie's door.

"Charlie? Charlie, come on, let me in."

There was no sound from behind the door.

"Charlie please, I'm sorry I yelled at you, please talk to me."

A soft click signified the unlocking of the door. She pushed it open and slipped in, closing the door behind her. Charlie was sprawled on his bed, pointedly not looking at her. Amanda just rolled her eyes and climbed over him so she was lying next to him. He turned his head the other way.

"Please don't be mad at me," she said, wrapping an arm around his back. "Charlie, I need you. You're my best friend and I don't know what to do."

He sighed but otherwise didn't move.

"Don't you think I _want_ to love you? I wish I could, you're the perfect guy... And I know you wouldn't hurt me. But I can't, and it hurts that I can't. Please don't leave me to this without you. I need my best friend."

Lose tears were running down her cheeks and she knew she must sound pathetic right about now, but she couldn't lose Charlie.

"You need to leave," he said finally.

"What?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"If you want me as your friend only then I can't have you in my bed."

Relief flooded through her, followed by the slight hurt that their friendship had obviously changed. She climbed back over him slowly.

"Alright then, whatever you want."

Charlie suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back tight against his chest.

"One night," he growled.

"Thank you Charlie," she whispered, "I really am sorry."

"There's nothing to forgive."

"You really are the best Charlie."

"The Best is tired, go to sleep."

Amanda smiled and rolled over so she could snuggle into his chest the way they had done as kids. Charlie pulled her tighter to him and followed her quickly into sleep.

"Sh, you're gonna wake them up if you don't shut up."

"Look at them, they're so cute."

"_Quiet_, Charlie'll kill us if he wakes up –"

"He's clutching her as if she were his teddy bear."

"– not to mention _her_. She's right scary when she's mad."

"Aw, look, she snuggled closer to him, like a kitten to its mother."

There was a pause, then, "You know it's gotten really hard to talk to you since you lost that ear."

"I'm sorry Fred, did you say something?"

Amanda decided it was about time she opened her eyes. She immediately wished she hadn't. Something large and hairy with eight legs was clutched in the distracted Georges hand, right in front of her face. Amanda screamed, making Fred and George jump and Charlie to roll off the bed, amazingly not waking him up.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" she shrieked.

Thundering footsteps were heard as Remus and Bill appeared in the doorway.

"What's going on? Amy, why did you scream?"

Fred and George looked guilty.

"Get that – that _thing_ out of my face _right now_!"

"Is that a spider?" asked Remus, sounding exasperated.

"Oh, like you wouldn't freak out if there was a giant spider in front if your face?" she said sarcastically, still eyeing the spider that was between Fred's fingers.

Bill shouted that everything was fine, presumably letting Mrs. Weasley and the others know that there was, in fact, not an army if Death Eaters upstairs getting ready to murder them all. Remus grabbed the twins and was about to leave but Charlie chose that moment to groan, alerting them to the fact that he was there and still asleep.

Bill raised an eyebrow and the twins got suggestive looks on their faces. Remus just looked surprised.

"You can all wipe those looks off your faces, we didn't do anything."

"Uh huh, sure Professor," said George.

"Dressed like that you can be doing whatever you want," added Fred.

Bill did her the honor of hitting him in the head while Amanda pulled her robe back into place. Blushing furiously Amanda clambered off the bed and made to step over Charlies unconscious body.

Charlie groaned and rolled over, grabbing her leg and pulling it to his chest. Amanda went down like a lead balloon.

"Charlie!"

"Go back to sleep," he groaned, pulling her back until he could use her as a pillow.

Remus and the others snickered quietly.

"A little _help_ please?" she asked, clawing at floor trying to crawl away.

"Not a chance, this is just too hilarious."

"I hate you all," she hissed, before attempting to address Charlie. "Charlie?"

"Hhm?" he murmured, still half asleep.

"You know that soft thing you're resting your head on?"

"Hhm-hm," he confirmed, giving it a little pat of acknowledgment.

Amanda fought the urge to kick him, he was a sleep after all. Bill on the other hand, who was laughing his butt off in the doorway, she was definitely going to kick him when she got free.

"That... uh, that's my bum."

She couldn't see the confused expression that appeared on his face, but she did feel the hand that felt her up trying to confirm that her rear end was, in fact, not a pillow.

"Charlie! Just what do you think you're doing?"

It seemed Mrs. Weasley had decided they were taking too long, and had come up herself to investigate. Amanda didn't think it was possible for her face to get any redder.

Charlie shot up, dragging his "pillow" with him. "Wha- mum, why're you yelling at me? What's going on?"

"Charlie?" Amanda said sweetly, face still on the ground and butt it the air. "You think you could let go of my bum maybe? I think I want it back now."

Charlie practically shoved her away from him in surprise.

"Now, now, Charlie," said Fred, "be gentle."

"Yeah," agreed George mockingly, "there's no need to shove."

Amanda decided now would be a good time to make her escape; unfortunately fate seemed to have it in for her that day. Her bad leg gave out as she picked herself up from the ground and she fell forwards, right onto Charlie. She ended up straddling his chest with his hands on her waist to catch her.

It was impossible to tell if Amanda's face or Charlie's was redder. But Amanda definitely moved faster, she was off and down the hallway before Charlie could so much as blink.

Amanda returned to the sanctuary of the attic, bright red and plotting revenge on the twins. Charlie appeared several minutes later, looking thoroughly sheepish and apologetic. She waved him off, blushing once again, and together they made their way to the kitchen.

The twins and Bill were the only ones in the room when they got there, everyone else having already been cornered by Mrs. Weasley for cleaning duty.

"So," said Fred, raising an eyebrow. "Spiders, professor?"

Amanda pulled out her wand and nonchalantly pointed it straight between his eyes.

"Did you know," she started quietly, "that if I were to transfigure you into, say, a cockroach, and put you in a box in Percy's room, that charming clock of your mothers would still show you safe at home? No one would ever suspect."

Fred gaped openly.

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm informing you," she said quietly. "And now here's a promise, for the both of you. If I so much as see a spider or even hear mention of one, I'm going to tie your arms into a knot above your heads and then shrink you down and leave you to the garden gnomes."

The boys continued to gape, and anything either of them might have said was interrupted by the arrival of Mrs. Weasley.

"Ah, there the two of you are." She said, bustling in and rounding on Charlie and Amanda. "Neither of you has eaten properly in days and there's no call for that in my house. Now, why don't the two of you take this basket I prepared and go eat in the garden?"

Amanda was all for it, as was Charlie; anything to escape cleaning duty. After breakfast it made perfect sense for them to continue evading cleaning duty so they just stayed out in the garden for a few more hours.

"Oh look!" Amanda exclaimed. "That one looks like a bunny!"

"There's a boat!" Charlie said, pointing upwards excitedly.

"Look! That one looks like an alligator attacking the mad scientist that mutated him from the toad that he used to be with a rock!"

There was a long pause, then, "Have I ever told you that you're the strangest person I've ever met?"

"I should hope so, otherwise we would have to hunt down the odder person and take them to the asylum. They're too dangerous to leave on the street."

"So are you really…?" Charlie asked, suddenly serious, if a bit nervous sounding.

"It would certainly explain a few things," she whispered. "And Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell my mother."

A sudden voice snapped them out of their serious moment, making them both jump up and whip out their wands.

"Don't tell your mother what?" Professor McGonagall was stepping carefully through the dense growth that made up the back yard. Her long robes kept getting caught on the thistles. "Mr. Weasley if you don't lower your wand and help me through these bushes I'll give you an earful you won't soon forget."

Amanda let her wand drop back into her sleeve and relaxed. "I'm convinced. If that's not mom I'm a fish."

"There are scientists who believe we evolved from fish," Charlie said thoughtfully, also letting his wand drop.

"Really? Well then, maybe I should go join the mer-people."

"I don't know, I can't do that screaming/singing thing they do."

"Not to mention you couldn't hold a tune if we strapped it to your back."

"I resent that –"

"Ah-hem. I'm sure the Weasley family sleeps soundly in their beds knowing the security of their house is in such good hands," Minerva said coldly.

"Oh, come off, we knew it was you," Amanda said defensively.

The elder McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "What is it you're not telling me?"

"That I'm madly in love with Mr. Weasley and that I want to have ten thousand of his babies," she said, as seriously as possible.

"I have news from the school," Minerva said, after a long moment of staring at her daughter oddly.

That caught their attention. "The Ministry has taken over, and they have decided that it would be best if I remained as Deputy Headmistress."

"Then who's going to be Headmaster?" Charlie asked.

"Severus Snape."

A moment of shocked silence – and then Amanda burst out into laughter.

"Of course!" she cried. "Who better? Oh Charlie there is a God, and he absolutely_ loathes_ Severus!" _And me._

**So… it's only been one, two, maybe three months… sorry. But I'll get better on the updates again, for those of you who still actually read this. And thank all of you who reviewed! I've had a weird screwed up couple of months but  
I'm not going to bore you all with the details so… once again sorry for abandoning this story for awhile!**

** I'm also sorry for the fact that even after several months, this chapter really didn't come out quite the way I wanted it to, the next one will be better! **

**Let me know what you guys are thinking though!**


	54. A Wedding!

Contrary to popular belief not all women like to shop, some of them despise it so completely that they would prefer to have their teeth pulled out by a deranged clown with a sledge hammer. Amanda was one of those people and normally tried to avoid it whenever possible. Today, however, she thought she might actually find some satisfaction from her purchases.

"I need something that looks vicious."

Eyes focused on her; owl eyes, fish eyes, cat eyes, lizards, weasels, rats, snakes, rabbits, and several somethings she couldn't identify; all from within cages or perched on shelves or in tanks. The only pair of eyes that didn't immediately zero in on her were those of the old shopkeeper, who seemed to require several seconds to realize she was speaking.

"What?" he wheezed, "Delicious, did you say?"

To give the man credit he might really have not heard her, he looked quite ancient and his eyes no longer held the alertness of younger years.

"No sir, vicious. I'd like something to deliver messages, but it needs to look vicious."

"A strong owl's quite impressive enough, there's no need to put yourself through the trouble of a vicious animal. You'll just be hurting yourself."

"I understand. However, I am more concerned with who will be attempting to read my mail, and I'd like to make it as hard for them as possible."

The old shopkeeper looked around for a moment, almost as if to ensure the store was completely empty before he suddenly straightened and a bit of life seemed to come back into his eyes.

"I think I've got just the thing," he said, before disappearing into the room behind him.

When he came back he was holding a small golden, _something_, that looked remarkably like an overgrown Snitch.

"That's a Snidget," she accused.

"Now hold on there missy, I now the regulations placed on Snidgets. But this ain't – technically speaking – a Snidget. Or didn't you notice the size."

He was right, it was rather big to be the bird the Snitch was modeled from.

"Sometimes a breed gets overly large and the Ministry gives 'em away on account that they wouldn't breed true like a real Snidget. I think this'll be just fine for your purposes."

Amanda eyed the small bird doubtfully for a moment; it was just a little bit bigger then her ear, had bright golden feathers and tiny, glowing red eyes. It didn't look like it would be able to carry a letter, let alone fight its way through the winds that sometimes swept around the castle.

But the old man was way ahead of her.

"He'll carry your letters alright, and he's just as agile through a blizzard as on a sunny day."

Amanda sighed, "Alright, does he have a name?"

The old man positively beamed. "His name is Fredrickson, but you can call him Freddy."

"Freddy?" she said doubtfully.

The little golden bird zoomed up towards her and hovered for a moment, before zipping around her head so fast she almost felt dizzy. _What have I gotten myself into?_

The little bird settled himself on her shoulder, nestling himself in the folds of her cloak right above her collar bone like a large golden pin.

"You'll have to take 'im now, little missy," the man said, still beaming broadly.

"How much?" she said resignedly.

He hobbled back to the counter and she paid him, all the while with the little golden bird nuzzling into her cloak.

"I think I'll call you Fredson, if that's all right. I just don't think I can handle Freddy, and Fredrickson is just too long."

Fredson just chirped and burrowed even further into her cloak. She had to admit, he looked good there; the deep red velvet of her cloak matched his eyes and his feathers accented the golden clasp perfectly. She grinned ruthlessly; she was going to look very Gryffindor in the coming year.

It was quite late by the time Amanda made it back to the Burrow, or rather, quite early. Mrs. Weasley was the only one awake when she slipped through the back door, already busily preparing breakfast for when the others came down.

"Morning, Molly," Amanda said, startling the older woman.

"Amy!" she exclaimed in a harsh whisper. "You gave me such a fright, coming in like that."

Amanda smiled apologetically.

"You just missed Arthur, by the way, he had to leave for work early so he would have time to get past all the security barriers."

She grimaced, remembering all the spells and charms they'd put up around the Burrow. It was impossible to exit the Burrow by magical means, anyone leaving had to walk down the large hill and quite a ways down the road before they could Apparate away. The same held true for visitors coming in.

A long walk uphill was exactly what Amanda's leg _didn't_ need and she excused herself upstairs to have a nice warm soak.

One long soak and a satisfying nap later found Amanda playing nanny to a horde of little red-headed Weasley brood.

They were insatiable. Question after question poured from their mouths like a never ending waterfall.

"Did you go to Hogwarts?"

"What house were you in?"

"Did you know Sean Gardner? He's my uncle."

"Where did you get that cane?"

Finally Amanda put up her hand, signaling for silence.

"Yes, I did. Gryffindor. No, I've never heard that name. And this cane I made this morning."

"How did you injure your leg?"

That question required some thought. _Fell several stories through stairs or crushed by pillar while fighting Lord Voldemort, which to tell? Decisions, decisions…_

Amanda need not have decided, however, as several Weasley mothers chose that moment to sweep away with their children to find better places to watch the proceedings. Across the lawn Amanda saw Harry, or rather, "Barney" speaking to Elphias Doge. She arrived at the same time as Muriel.

"Ah, going to join us Amanda? I suppose you've met Barry?" It wasn't a question, question implies time to answer, Muriel just continued on like a freight train. "We were just talking about Rita Skeeter's biography of Dumbledore. I can't wait to read it, I must remember to place an order at Flourish and Blotts!"

Doge looked stiff and solemn at this and Amanda's lips thinned into a thin line with remarkable similarity to her mother's customary grim expression. But Muriel seemed not to care, she took another gulp of champagne, belched, and the said, "There's no need to look like a pair of stuffed frogs! Before he became so respectable and respected and respectable and all that tosh, there were some mighty funny rumors about Albus!"

"Ill-informed sniping," said Elphias.

"You would say that, Elphias," cackled Muriel. "I noticed how you skated over the sticky patches in that obituary of yours!"

"I'm sorry you think so," said Dodge, more coldly still. "I assure you I was writing from the heart."

"Oh, we all know you worshipped Dumbledore; I daresay you'll still think he was a saint even if it does turn out that he did away with his squib sister!"

"_Muriel!_" exclaimed Doge.

Amanda bristled, "That is the most outrageous accusation –" but Harry cut her off.

"What do you mean? Who said his sister was a squib? I thought she was ill?"

"She was –"

"Thought wrong then, didn't you Barry!" said Muriel , looking positively delighted. "Anyway, how would you expect to know anything about it? It all happened years and years before you were even thought of, my dear, and the truth I that those of us who were alive then never knew what really happened. That's why I can't wait to find out what Skeeter's unearthed. Dumbledore kept that sister of his quiet for a long time!"

"With good reason!" Amanda cut in. "What happened that day was a tragedy, and the fact that you, or Rita, would slight a good mans name because you can't wait to get your grubby hands on a good piece of scandalous gossip and prove that everyone is on _your_ level."

Muriel swung around to face her, swaying slightly.

"_You_. What would _you_ know about it? Dumbledore never talked about his sister, did he?"

"The reason Albus never spoke about Ariana," began Elphias in a voice stiff with emotion, "is, I should have thought, quite clear. He was so devastated by her death –"

"Why did nobody ever see her, Elphias?" squawked uriel. "Why did half of us never even know she existed –"

"I should think you were hardly a confidant of the Dumbledores," Amanda cut in dryly.

"– until they carried the coffin out of the house and held a funeral for her? Where was saintly Albus while Ariana was locked in the cellar? Off being brilliant at Hogwarts, and never mind what was going on in his own house!"

"What do you mean, locked in a cellar?" asked Harry. "What is this?"

Muriel positively cackled in delight. "Dumbledore's mother was a terrifying woman, simply terrifying. Muggle-born, though I heard she pretended otherwise –"

"She never pretended anything of the sort! Kendra was a fine woman," whispered Doge miserably, but Muriel ignored him.

"– proud and very domineering, the sort of witch who would have been mortified to produce a squib –"

"Ariana was not a squib," Amanda pointed out.

"So you say, but explain, then, why she never attended Hogwarts!" said Muriel, before turning to Harry/Barney. "In our day, squibs were often hushed up, though to take it to the extreme of actually imprisoning a little girl in the house and pretending she didn't exist –"

"I tell you, that's not what happened!" said Doge.

"Squibs were usually shipped off to Muggle schools and encouraged to integrated into the Muggle community… much kinder than trying to find them, a place in the wizarding world, where they must always be second class; but naturally Kendra Dumbledore wouldn't have dreamed of letting her daughter go to a Muggle school –"

"Ariana was delicate!" said Doge desperately. "Her health was always too poor to permit her –"

"– to permit her to leave the house?" cackled Muriel. "And yet she was never taken to St. Mungo's and no healer was ever summoned to see her!"

"Really, Muriel, how can you possibly know whether –"

"For your information, Elphias, my cousin Lancelot was a Healer at St. Mungo's at the time, and he told my family in strictest confidence that Ariana had never been seen there. All most suspicious, Lancelot thought"

"Because your cousin was privy to all that went on in St. Mungo's. Really Muriel, I never knew you had family in such high places." Amanda said. "And of course your cousin would also happen to know all the going-on's of every Healer across Britain."

"Now, if Kendra hadn't died first," Muriel resumed, "I'd have said that it was she who finished off Ariana –"

"How can you Muriel?" groaned Doge. "A mother kill her own daughter? Think what you are saying!"

"If the mother in question was capable of imprisoning her daughter for years on end, why not?"

"Because Ariana was not imprisoned in a cellar," Amanda interjected.

"But as I say," continued Muriel, lost in her own world of conspiracies, "it doesn't fit, because Kendra died before Ariana – of what, nobody ever seemed sure –"

"Oh, no doubt Ariana murdered her," said Doge with a brave attempt at scorn. "Why not?"

Amanda twitched violently, spilling wine all over the nice white table cloth.

"Yes, Ariana might have made a desperate bid for freedom and killed Kendra in the struggle," said Muriel thoughtfully.

"Ariana was _sick_," Amanda said pointedly. "She couldn't have _killed_ anyone. And she certainly wasn't trying to escape because she was _not_ locked away in a cellar."

"Deny it all you want. And you too Elphias! You were at Ariana's funeral, were you not?"

"Yes I was," said Doge. "And a more desperately sad occasion I cannot remember. Albus was heartbroken –"

"His heart wasn't the only thing. Didn't Aberforth break Albus's nose halfway through the service?"

Muriel might have stabbed Doge and he still wouldn't have looked as horrified as he did now.

"How do you – ?"

"My mother was friendly with old Bathilda Bagshot. Bathilda described the whole thing to mother while I was listening at the door. A coffin-side brawl! The way Bathilda told it, Aberforth shouted that it was all Albus's fault that Ariana was dead and then punched him in the face. According to Bathilda, Albus did not even defend himself, and that's odd enough in itself, Albus could have destroyed Aberforth in a duel with both hands tied behind his back."

"And I'll tell you something else," said Muriel, hiccupping slightly as she lowered her goblet. "I think Bathilda has spilled the beans to Rita Skeeter. All those hints in Skeeter's interview about an important source close to Dumbledores – goodness knows she was there through all the Ariana business, and it would fit!"

"Bathilda would never talk to Rita Skeeter!" whispered Doge.

"Bathilda Bagshot?" Harry said. "The author of _A History of Magic?_"

"Yes," said Doge. "A most gifted magical historian and an old friend of Albus's."

"Quite gaga these days, I've heard," said Muriel cheerfully.

"She's not the only one," Amanda muttered.

"If that is so, then it is even more dishonorable for Skeeter to have taken advantage of her," said Doge, "and no reliance can be placed on anything Bathilda might have said!"

"Oh, there are ways of bringing back memories, and I'm sure Rita knows them all," said Muriel. "But even if Bathilda's completely cuckoo, I'm sure she'd still have old photographs. Maybe even letters. She knew the Dumbledores for years… Well worth a trip to Godrick's Hollow, I'd have thought."

Harry choked and Amanda had to resist slapping her palm to her forehead.

Doge banged him on the back as Harry coughed, looking at Muriel through streaming eyes. Once he had gained control of his voice again, he asked, "Bathilda Bagshot lives in Godric's Hollow?"

"Oh yes, she's been there forever! The Dumbledores moved there after Percival was imprisoned, and she was their neighbor."

"The Dumbledores lived in Godrick's Hollow?"

"Yes, Barry, that's what I just said," said Muriel testily.

Harrys eyes glazed over and he looked like he was in a trance. He didn't even seem to notice where he was going as he stumbled away.

"Barney," Amanda called.

He didn't respond. Amanda lunged forward, nearly tripping some poor Weasley brood with the end of her cane. She ignored his cry of surprise and put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Potter," she whispered, leaning down slightly so her face was close to his. "I most ask you not to go to Godric's Hollow."

"Of course not Professor, I'm going back school when term starts," he said dully.

"Don't even bother trying that with me Potter. I know you better than that –"

"What do you know of me?" he asked, angrily moving his shoulder out of her grasp.

"I know you're hurting. I know you want to know why Dumbledore never told you he lived in Godric's Hollow, the place where your parents died. And I know sooner or later you're going to get it into your head to search for answers there. But I must warn you, that is likely the one place Voldemort expects you most. Please do not walk straight into his clutches."

"You know what I realized, Professor?" he said, after a long moment of silence. "I don't know a thing About Dumbledore, or who he was. How can I trust someone I don't know?"

"Because that's the way Dumbledore was. He left a lot of people in the dark about a lot of things. Dumbledore was a master of manipulating people, and most of the time they were happy to let them. But think of this, Harry: Did Dumbledore ever lead you down the wrong path?"

Harry opened his mouth but Amanda cut him off. "I don't expect an answer right now Harry. Why don't you just sit here and try to enjoy the festivities, goodness knows you probably won't have the chance again for a long while."

She left him then, wondering to herself just how much Dumbledore had managed to prepare him for what he was about to do. Was it even possible for someone _to_ be prepared for this? No one had expected Dumbledore to die – no, to be murdered – so how could Harry be prepared?

Amanda sighed to herself as she settled down at a table and pulled her cane over her lap. It was a good thing Molly had warned her – more like demanded that she do something – about the fact that the trio were planning to skip their seventh year and begin the quest to take down Lord Voldemort. Under other circumstances she might try to actually stop them as Molly wanted, but as it was… It was probably better this way.

Whether or not Harry was prepared suddenly became irrelevant, because at that moment something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the patrounus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"_The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeor is dead. They are coming."_

Silence spread outwards in cold ripples from the place the patronus had appeared. Then somebody screamed. Like the opening of the great flood gates everyone seemed to move in one great motion. Guests were sprinting in all directions, knocking over tables as they went. Many were Disapparating; the protective enchantments around the Burrow had broken.

Cloaked and Masked figures appeared in the midst of the chaotic crowd. Lupin and Tonks jumped their feet, wands raised, and shouted "_Protego!_", a cry that was echoed by all other members of the Order that were present. Amanda stood slowly; taking a long swig of the butter beer in front of her while she scanned the moving crowd for Potter, Granger and the youngest Weasley boy.

She found them, it seemed, just as one of the dark lords followers did. He raised his wand and moved towards where Potter and Granger were trying to force their way through the frantic crowd. Her wand felt warm as it dropped into her hand and she prayed fervently that her spell would work before pulling back her arm and letting loose. "_Confringo!_"

The streak of light whizzed over the heads of Potter and Granger and the table next to the Death Eater exploded, sending him flying backwards into the crowd. A moment later Potter and his friends vanished on the spot, transported to who knew where; hopefully somewhere safer than here.

It only took a few more seconds before all that remained in the square were the death eaters and the members of the order. Lupin and Tonks still stood back to back, several death eaters in masks surrounding them. The death eater who had been unfortunate enough to be next to the table Amanda had caused to explode was struggling to stand still. Molly was gone; she had been shuffling several children inside when last Amanda had seen her. Everyone still in attendance stood wearily, arms ready and tensed should anyone make the first move.

One man stepped forward, he wasn't dressed in the long black robes of the death eaters and instead wore a dark tweed suit and rolled a bowler hat in his hands, not nervously, but more like a man who knows he's about to have his hands on something far more valuable.

"My name," he started, formally, "is Basil Mnemone, of the Department of Magical Law enforcement. We have a warrant," here he gestured to the men surrounding him "to search these premises from top to bottom in the search for one Harry Potter."

"I'm afraid he couldn't make it," said Tonks offhandedly.

"Shame," stated Mnemone. "In any case, which one of you is responsible for this," he eyed the Burrow doubtfully, "dwelling?"

"I'm Arthur Weasley, this is my home."

"Very well then, if you could just have everyone inside assemble here on the lawn, we have a few questions. And it would make the search ever so much faster." He smiled faintly. "And we wouldn't want to take any more of your time than absolutely necessary, would we?"

"Of course," Arthur said, disappearing inside.

"And Mr. Weasley, Mr. Macnir here will accompany you."

A moment later Mr. Weasley returned with Molly in tow.

"Go," Mnemone said, causing several men around him to file into the house quickly.

"What –?"

"We will begin the search now."

The remaining men Mnemone had brought with him surrounded them, moving people forward until they were all standing together in the middle of the square.

None of them were in the best shape: Lupin was supporting Tonks, who seemed to have a rather nasty looking gash on her leg; Mrs. Weasley was holding onto a grim Arthur and looked alarmed, though she was struggling to hide it; Elphias shuddered where he stood and whimpered faintly. Muriel seemed fine, on the other hand, if a bit tipsy. And was loudly asked the death eater closest to her why the wedding hadn't started yet; Fluer looked angry, as any bride whose wedding has been interrupted has any right to be, and Bill had his arm around her protectively. Amanda tucked her wand back into her sleeve and stood on the other side of Charlie calmly.

"Now," said Mnemone, once they had all gathered near, "while we have you all here, we would like to ask you a few questions."

And so it began. They wanted to know where Harry was, of course. Did they know where he was? Why wasn't he here? When was the last time any of them had seen him? When were they planning to see him next? It went on and on with seemingly no respite. Behind them the search of the house continued on, and periodically there were sounds of things breaking and crashing to the ground violently.

Every clatter or clang from inside made Mrs. Weasley jump slightly as they all wondered what had just been broken or tossed carelessly to the ground. It all went rather smoothly; none of them had seen Harry for several weeks and had no idea where he was. Their responses almost sounded rehearsed, because they were. The only blip was when one of Mnemones men came running out blubbering about _something_ that was laying in one of the bedrooms.

"That _something_," said Mr. Weasley tersely, "is my youngest son, he's ill with spattergroit –" the man looked disgusted "– so I suggest you leave him be."

Spattergoit, being the extremely disgusting and contagious disease that it was, was enough cause for the rest of the men to finish their search and leave the house in a hurry. Mnemone quickly followed suit, but not before sharing one last piece of advice.

"The Ministry, under it's new management, no longer upholds the high levels of tolerance that had been weakening our society, as such, should any of you be found to be hiding information, well," and he gave each of them a level stare, "let's just say I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when the Ministry comes back."

**I'm back! And determined to, **_**finally,**_** finish this story. And to get myself reacquainted with it I am going to be revamping all the old chapters so if there are any specific parts that you can remember and would like me to look at please for all that is holy send me a message! Or leave it in a review or something. Either way I'm back, and I hope I haven't lost all of you in the year since I last updated.**


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